North Carolina woman indicted in Holtsville man’s shooting death

A 21-year-old North Carolina woman faces first-degree murder charges in the death of a Holtsville man who was shot in the head during a home burglary last year, authorities said.

Dynasty Sanders was additionally indicted on charges of first-degree, first-degree criminal use of a firearm and second-degree criminal possession of a weapon, Suffolk District Attorney Raymond Tierney said. She pleaded not guilty to all of the charges during her arraignment on Tuesday.

Sanders is accused of forcing her way into the Holtsville home of 52-year-old Stephen McCoy on Oct. 20, 2024. During the home invasion, she pointed a gun at McCoy and his wife and demanded money, Tierney said.

When McCoy did not comply, Sanders allegedly shot him in the face. After McCoy’s wife Allegra managed to escape unharmed, Sanders then fled the scene and got back to North Carolina, the district attorney said.

McCoy was hospitalized at Stony Brook University Hospital with a traumatic brain injury and extensive blood loss. He died more than a year after the shooting, on Jan. 24, 2026, following multiple surgeries and treatments, from complications linked to the gunshot wound, Tierney said, citing the medical examiner’s autopsy report.

“After allegedly forcing her way into the victim’s home and shooting him in the head, the defendant was left to endure countless surgeries and unimaginable pain before he ultimately lost his life,” Tierney said. “My office will ensure this defendant is held accountable for the suffering she allegedly caused.”

Sanders last summer was arrested by the Suffolk County Police Fugitive Squad in North Carolina and extradited to New York. At that point, she was arraigned on attempted murder charges.

On Tuesday, she was arraigned on the more serious charges in the superseding indictment before Supreme Court Justice Timothy Mazzei, who remanded her without bail.

A federal judge dismissed the petition without prejudice in March 2026, ruling that Sanders had to first pursue her claims through state courts before a federal court could review them, court documents show.

She is scheduled to return to court April 28, and faces up to 25 years to life in prison if convicted of the top count.

_{Top: Stephen McCoy (Facebook)}