Babylon body parts case: Two defendants make short appearance in court, ordered to return next month

Two of four defendants charged with discarding body parts at various Long Island parks made brief appearances in Suffolk County District Court in Central Islip on Tuesday.

Alexis Nieves, 33, appeared in court with her attorney, Christopher Gioe, of Hauppauge, before Judge James McDonaugh, who ordered Nieves to return to court April 9. Prosecutors have said Nieves is “not domiciled.”

Jeffrey Mackey, 38, of Amityville, later appeared with his attorney, John Halverson, of Patchogue. McDonaugh ordered Mackey to return to court April 11. The couple held hands in the courtroom gallery while waiting for their appearances.

Gioe declined to comment Tuesday, saying he did not wish to discuss the charges filed against Nieves while the case was under investigation by Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney’s office.

Halverson said he has not received discovery from Tierney’s office yet, but added he has been discussing the case with prosecutors. Prosecutors have not raised the possibility of upgraded charges, Halverson said.

Tierney’s office has charged Nieves, Mackey and their co-defendants — Amanda Wallace, 40, and Steven Brown, 44, both of Amityville — with concealing a human corpse, tampering with evidence and hindering prosecution in the first degree, all felonies. The defendants have pleaded not guilty to the charges.

None of the charges are considered bail eligible, which means prosecutors cannot ask a judge to hold suspects on bail, under a state law that was overhauled in 2019 and amended twice. The suspects were arraigned and released, but required to wear GPS monitoring bracelets and barred from leaving Suffolk County.

Tierney issued a statement blaming the state’s bail reform for the release of the suspects, saying it handcuffed prosecutors. But Halverson pushed back on that assertion Tuesday.

“My client has shown up for every court date, he is on time, he is here,” Halverson said. “Bail is not to be a penalty. Bail is not just ‘put someone in jail.’ It’s to ensure their return to court. My client has complied, he’s on GPS, it is working.”

Police have identified the female victim as 59-year-old Donna R. Conneely and the other victim as a 53-year-old man.

Their body parts were found on Feb. 29 and March 5 in a park in Babylon, Bethpage State Park and a wooded area in West Babylon, police said. Conneely and the other victim, whose identity is pending confirmation by the Office of the Suffolk County Medical Examiner, lived at the same address in Yonkers.

Tuesday’s hearing follows a Monday appearance by Wallace, who was ordered held without bail by McDonaugh after she allegedly stole beauty products from a Lindenhurst CVS store while under court-ordered electronic monitoring.

Wallace was arrested and charged with petit larceny after Suffolk police were called to the East Montauk Highway store at about 10:50 p.m. Friday, authorities said.

Wallace admitted to a police officer that she stole items, according to a misdemeanor information filed in Suffolk District Court. Her attorney, Keith O’Halloran, of Westhampton Beach, entered a plea of not guilty on the petit larceny charge.

McDonaugh ordered Wallace held without bail on the body parts case for not complying with the conditions of her release and set bail for the petit larceny charge at $5,000 cash, $10,000 surety bond or $50,000 partially secured bond. The judge ordered Wallace to return to court on the body parts charges Friday.

Brown also appeared briefly Monday before McDonaugh, who ordered him to return to court April 1.

No one has been charged in connection with the two deaths.