Cops: Weapons charge in fatal shooting of former Wyandanch high star

A North Amityville man faces a weapons charge after his arrest in connection with the fatal shooting of a former Wyandanch High School football star, Suffolk police said Thursday.

Everett Aitcheson, 22, appeared in First District Court in Central Islip Thursday on a charge of second-degree criminal possession of a weapon and was ordered held in lieu of $500,000 cash bail or $1 million bond. Aitcheson, who was arrested in Manhattan on Wednesday night, may face additional charges, Suffolk prosecutors said at the hearing.

In court, prosecutors said video from a nearby residence in Wyandanch showed that Aitcheson had parked his car near the Lake Drive home of Alonte Shipp, 20, early Monday and lay in wait to confront his ex-girlfriend, who had been with the Wyandanch High School graduate. Aitcheson had called the woman 18 times that morning, prosecutors said during the hearing.

When Shipp and the woman arrived at the home, Aitcheson got out of his vehicle and confronted them. Shipp then entered the home and returned with a gun, prosecutors said in court. He and Aitcheson exchanged gunfire, prosecutors said. Shipp was hit nine times with bullets fired from a 9 mm gun and three of the wounds were fatal, according to prosecutors at the hearing.

Shipp was transported to Good Samaritan Hospital Medical Center in West Islip, where he was later pronounced dead, police said. The investigation is ongoing, officials said.

A 2019 Wyandanch graduate, Shipp attended Hudson Valley Community College in Troy last year and was scheduled to return to the school this week, his family said.

Aitcheson, who prosecutors said faces up to 15 years in prison, did not enter a plea Thursday. He maintains his innocence "a thousand percent," said his defense attorney, George Duncan of Islip Terrace.

"He is looking forward to a thorough investigation," Duncan said.

Family members and friends of Shipp and Aitcheson packed the hallway outside the courtroom Thursday, exchanging harsh words after the hearing. Shipp’s mother, Lakeicha Sexton, stormed out of the courtroom as prosecutors described the shooting, visibly shaken by hearing the details of her son's final moments.

"I don’t have the words to say how I feel right now," an emotional Sexton said afterward.

Friends and coaches said Shipp, who played running back and linebacker at Wyandanch, had the potential to play in the NFL. As a freshman in 2016, his speed and agility impressed the college scouts at a Ronkonkoma football combine.

Shipp was also a talented artist, friends and family said, beloved and respected by his peers as well as faculty members. About 100 current and former students gathered late Monday at Wyandanch high for an impromptu vigil, the school's principal, Paul Sibblies, said earlier this week.

Shipp had academic issues at Hudson Valley, according to former Wyandanch football coach Dwight Singleton, now an assistant coach at Long Island University. But he had matured during his first year of college and was eager to get back to school to prove himself.

Hudson Valley’s website listed Shipp as a freshman on the football team’s 2019 roster.