‘Midnight’ Ray convicted in beating death behind Chuck E. Cheese in Hempstead

A Roosevelt man faces up to 25 years to life in prison following his conviction of murder and other charges for a 2022 robbery and beating that left a Copiague man brain-damaged and ultimately dead more than a year after the attack, authorities said.

Dennis “Midnight” Ray, 64, was found guilty Tuesday following a jury trial of second-degree murder, first-degree assault, first-degree robbery and second-degree robbery in connection with the April 22, 2022, attack on Jose Osma behind a Chuck E. Cheese restaurant in Hempstead, Nassau County District Attorney Anne Donnelly announced on Thursday.

Ray, whose fate was weighed by the jury for four-and-a-half hours, is due back in Nassau County Court on May 12 for sentencing.

Prosecutors said Ray and co-defendant Tyrell Guthrie ambushed and beat Osma, then 59, during an 11 p.m. robbery behind the restaurant.

Found unconscious the next morning

Osma was found unconscious by a passerby the following morning and taken to a hospital with no identification, no personal property and multiple skull and orbital fractures.

Because Osma had no ID on him, he was admitted as a “John Doe” at NYU Langone Hospital – Long Island. His family, unaware of what had happened to him, filed a missing persons report in Suffolk County and didn’t find him until a full two days after the beating.

Over the following year, Osma slipped in and out of a coma multiple times and underwent five brain surgeries. He died on April 30, 2023.

“Jose Osma was beaten to within an inch of his life during a robbery in 2022, and what followed was an endless cycle of brain surgeries, paralysis, rehab and hospitalizations until Jose sadly succumbed to his extensive injuries a year later,” Donnelly said. “Dennis Ray showed no remorse for his violent assault, even bragging minutes after the attack about the stolen money and the heinous crime he committed to get it.”

Nassau Police arrested Guthrie near the scene on the night of the attack; he was found in possession of a blood-stained jacket Ray had been wearing.

Guthrie later pleaded guilty to first-degree manslaughter and was sentenced to 18 years in prison in January 2024.

Police arrested Ray on May 7, 2022 — 15 days after the assault.

_{Top: Chuck E. Cheese in Hempstead (Google Maps Street View) and Dennis “Midnight” Ray (via NCPD).}