20 Years To Life For Former AZ Man Who Gunned Down Friend On LIRR Train

LONG ISLAND, NY — A former Arizona man was sentenced to 20 years to life in prison Thursday in connection with gunning down his friend on a Long Island Rail Road train in Ronkonkoma, his defense attorney said.

Nicholas D’Agostino pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and two counts of second-degree criminal possession of a weapon for fatally shooting Yusef Staine, of Wyandanch, on Feb. 16, 2022, while they were on a LIRR train, prosecutors previously said.

He was charged with the crime in May 2023.

One of D'Agostino's defense attorneys, Keith O'Halloran of Westhampton Beach, said he has "accepted responsibility, and expressed remorse, he understands the sentence imposed and intends to use every resource afforded to him to better himself in prison."

D'Agostino arrived on Long Island on Feb. 13 after traveling from Arizona to meet Staine, and on Feb. 15, the pair, along with two other friends, took an LIRR train from Wyandanch to New York City, and in the early morning hours of Feb. 16, Staine and D’Agostino boarded a train back to Suffolk, prosecutors said.

After missing their stop in Wyandanch, the pair then boarded a westbound train in Ronkonkoma, prosecutors said, adding that upon boarding that westbound train, D’Agostino pulled a gun from his jacket pocket and shot Staine in the back of the head while walking behind him, and when Staine fell to the ground, D’Agostino fired a second round into his torso before getting off the train.

D’Agostino ordered a Lyft which picked him up less than a mile from the Ronkonkoma train station and brought him to Yonkers, prosecutors said, adding that D’Agostino ultimately boarded a Greyhound bus destined for Arizona.

D’Agostino, 22, bowed his head throughout most of the hearing as Staine's family described how his saying affected their lives, with one later shouting, "Feed him to the crocodiles," as court officers led him away after the sentencing, Newsday reported.

In her victim impact statement, Staine’s mother Pamela Usher, asked, "Why did you shoot him from behind like a coward? Did you feel anything as you pulled the trigger? Why?," according to the outlet.