Tragedy struck a Long Island family when a 28-year-old man succumbed to injuries in his father’s embrace at their residence, following a stabbing incident involving a longtime acquaintance.
On Monday, Bobby Carragher was found lifeless on the kitchen floor in a Massapequa home, having sustained a fatal neck wound, as reported by News 12 Long Island.
The Nassau County police suspect that an altercation arose between Carragher and his 22-year-old friend, Kristin Sculley, after they spent hours watching TV in the basement, as noted by NBC New York.
While Carragher slept, Sculley allegedly carried out the violent act.
Awakening in distress, Carragher managed to ascend the stairs, crying out for his mother. His parents rushed to his side, desperately trying to stem the bleeding, but he ultimately collapsed, as detailed by PIX 11.
Carragher, an autobody shop worker, was then pronounced dead at the scene.
‘He died in his father’s arms,’ Nassau County Detective Lieutenant George Darienzo said at a news conference on Tuesday.Â
‘No family should ever have to bear witness to their son being killed in that manner.’
Bobby Carragher, 28, died in his father’s arms on Monday morning after being stabbed in the neck while he was asleep in his bedroom
Kristin Sculley, 22, has pleaded not guilty to a charge of murder in the second-degree and is being held without bail
Nassau County police said they were called to a home in Massapequa at around 1.30am on Monday
Sculley had allegedly stayed inside the home following the attack, hiding in the basement before she was located by authorities and taken into custody.
She was still in possession of a pocket knife believed to be the murder weapon, police have said.
A motive for the fatal stabbing remains unclear, with authorities just saying the victim and Sculley had a friendship and had known each other for years.
Sculley has no prior criminal record, and while investigators said there was some evidence of drug use, no substances were recovered at the scene.
Carragher’s friends were then left struggling to make sense of his untimely death.
‘There’s not much you can say. An innocent life was taken,’ Louis Ambrosio told ABC 7 outside the courthouse on Tuesday.
He described how ‘Bobby lit up every room he walked into’ and told Newsday he was a ‘hardworking kid and got his life on the right track’ when he was hanging out with Sculley.
‘It’s disturbing that the room I hung out with my friend, he was murdered in his sleep,’ Ambrosio said. ‘It’s just not right.’
Authorities claim Sculley remained at the home following the stabbing
She was allegedly found hiding on the lower level with the murder weapon still on her
Dan Goldberg, a family friend, also called Carragher’s death ‘very shocking,’ while another friend, Thomas Maloney said it ‘makes you lose faith in humanity a little bit thinking that someone could just take someone’s life so easily like that. It’s a really messed up thing.’
He said the victim ‘was just a funny, funny person, walked in the room, always had something funny to say.’Â
The 22-year-old’s defense attorney is now investigating whether Sculley may have been trying to defend herself.
‘I think self-defense is something that definitely has to be looked into in this case,’ attorney Mindy Plotkin told Newsday.
In the meantime, Sculley has pleaded not guilty to a charge of murder in the second-degree and is being held without bail.
When she was then led out of Nassau Police Headquarters in Mineola and into a police cruiser, Sculley seemed to smile and smirk, NBC New York reports.Â