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Four days after a 23-year-old CVS employee was stabbed and killed during a robbery attempt on Christmas night, members of the Lindenhurst community and beyond are set to gather Monday evening for a candlelight vigil in his memory.
The ceremony for Edeedson Ciné is scheduled for 6 p.m. at the Lindenhurst Town Sqaure and Gazebo, according to the Village of Lindenhurst and the Lindenhurst Chamber of Commerce. The community is invited to come together “in support and remembrance,” as the village continues to mourn the loss.
Family members, who previously held a candlelight vigil Saturday night in Lindenhurst, are expected to attend.
Ciné, a West Babylon resident affectionately called “Eddy” and “Joshy” by family and friends, had been called in to work Christmas night at the East Montauk Highway CVS at the last minute to cover a shift after another employee called out. He was stabbed inside the store shortly before 7 p.m. by Lindenhurst resident John Pilaccio, 43, police said.
Authorities said Ciné was working behind the counter when he was attacked after refusing Pilaccio’s demands for cash, prosecutors said. He was rushed to Good Samaritan Hospital Medical Center in West Islip, where he was pronounced dead.
Suspect returns to court on Wednesday
Police arrested Pilaccio on Friday at his home on Palm Street, a half-mile from CVS. The Pizza Hut worker was charged with second-degree murder. Prosecutors said in court that Pilaccio admitted to authorities that he was motivated by debt in the killing.
Pilaccio pleaded not guilty at his arraignment Friday in First District Court in Central Islip and is being held without bail. He is scheduled to return to court on Wednesday, New Year’s Eve.
Family members and close friends held a candlelight vigil Saturday night in Lindenhurst. The ceremony concluded with a poignant tribute, as attendees counted backward from 23 — Ciné’s age at the time of his death — to zero before releasing helium-filled Mylar balloons into the sky in his memory.
Outpouring of support and sympathy
In the days since the stabbing, tributes and messages of grief have poured in from across Long Island, including the creation of an online fundraiser to support Ciné’s family. A GoFundMe page titled “In Loving Memory of Eddy ‘Joshy’ Cine Jr.” has now raised more than $93,000 through over 2,200 donations.
The Lindenhurst Chamber of Commerce said Monday that the vigil is intended to provide space for the community to grieve together and honor the life of a young man taken far too soon.
Top: Instagram/@jon.cinee
