18 indicted in Riverhead ’48 Gang’ takedown — murders, shootings, heists

Eighteen members of a violent Riverhead street gang — including a Westchester County cop — have been indicted on charges that span two murders, five shootings, and eight armed robberies over four years, Suffolk’s top prosecutor said Friday.

District Attorney Raymond Tierney announced the sweeping 57-count indictment against the “48 Gang” at a news conference flanked by top brass from agencies across the county.

The gang took its name from its turf — Oakland Drive’s “4 Block,” the Doctors Path Apartments, and River Pointe Apartments on Riverhead’s East Main Street.

Prosecutors said members used violence to muscle their way to dominance in Riverhead, bankrolling the operation through robberies, gun deals, drug sales and financial fraud.

The same pistol, Tierney said, had been used months earlier in a drive-by at an Aquebogue home occupied by two elderly residents in their 70s.

Tierney said the gang is also responsible for the January 2023 killing of 47-year-old James Ayers of Mastic.

After alleged high-ranking “48 Gang” member Nickomas Allen, 38, was punched in the head by Ayers during a parking lot brawl outside a Riverhead apartment complex, he went upstairs to grab a gun, followed Ayers down Main Street, and shot him in the head, authorities said.

Ayers died days later at South Shore University Hospital.

Police detective among those arrested

Perhaps the most explosive allegation in the indictment has nothing to do with the gang’s foot soldiers.

Prosecutors said that Mount Vernon Police Detective Kyren Braunskill, 34, throughout 2021 and 2022, sold illegal guns to “48 Gang” members. In December 2022, the month he was sworn in as a Mount Vernon cop, Braunskill allegedly tried to broker a multi-gun sale to a gang member and asked a high-ranking associate to carry out a shooting for him.

Because his charges are non-bail eligible under state law, Braunskill, who previously answered 911 calls for the NYPD, walked out of court on supervised release with a GPS monitor, Tierney said.

Members of the gang are also accused of armed robberies of 7-Eleven stores in Central Islip and North Bellmore in September 2023 and a September 2024 stickup at El Quetzal Deli in Flanders, during which defendant Demarion Weston allegedly pistol-whipped a female clerk about her head and body.

Braunskill faces a top count of fourth-degree conspiracy.

The remaining 17 defendants are charged with crimes ranging from murder and attempted murder to first-degree robbery and weapons and drug possession.

• Justin Dicks, 24, of Riverhead — Second-degree murder
• Jacob Moore, 24, of Riverhead — Second-degree murder
• Nickomas Allen, 38, of Riverhead — Second-degree murder
• Elias Lugo, 20, of Riverhead — Second-degree attempted murder
• Javon Holliday, 23, of Riverhead — First-degree robbery
• Acorey Hobbs, 20, of Southampton — Second-degree attempted murder
• Brandon Johnson, 21, of Riverhead — First-degree robbery
• Omarion Francis, 21, of Coram — Second-degree attempted murder
• Kendall Gamble, 26, of Shirley — Second-degree conspiracy
• Demario Weston, 23, of Farmingville — First-degree robbery
• Jayvonte Nash, 25, of Riverhead — Fourth-degree conspiracy
• Jeonta Scott, 25, of Riverhead — First-degree robbery
• Kevin Setchoy, 23, of Mastic — First-degree robbery
• Andre Williams, 25, of Calverton — Second-degree criminal weapon possession
• Kyren Braunskill, 34, of Mount Vernon — Fourth-degree conspiracy
• Courtney Gregg, 34, of Riverhead — Second-degree hindering prosecution
• Joel Sandoval Llamas, 26, of Riverhead — First-degree robbery
• Tiana MacDonald, 24, of Farmingville — Third-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance

_{Top: Suffolk County District Attorney Raymond Tierney speaks Friday at a press conference, where he announced the indictment against members of Riverhead’s “48 Gang” (SCDA/YouTube).}