Jury convicts Christopher Fernandez, of Sound Beach, of killing Bohemia father of 4

A Suffolk County jury convicted a Sound Beach man of second-degree murder Friday in the attempted burglary killing of a father of four preparing for work when armed intruders, who mistakenly thought missing items were there, arrived at his Bohemia house in November 2022.

Christopher Fernandez, 29, mistakenly believed items that had been stolen from him earlier on the morning of Nov. 2 were inside the home of Michael Hartmann when he and an accomplice approached the back door of the house the carpenter shared with his wife and daughters, according to evidence presented at trial.

"Total devastation," Suffolk County Assistant District Attorney Frank Schroeder said during closing arguments Thursday. "For what? So he could get his [expletive] back? You’ve got to be kidding. What a waste."

Fernandez is facing the possibility of 25 years to life in prison for the killing when he is sentenced April 8. To find Fernandez guilty of felony murder, the jury, which deliberated into the night Friday, had to find Hartmann's death occurred during a burglary attempt. Fernandez was also convicted of multiple gun charges.

Evidence at trial showed Fernandez reported having personal items, including drugs and a cellphone, stolen from him by women in two separate instances in the hours leading up to the killing. A Suffolk police detective testified that Fernandez admitted using a tracking app to attempt to find his belongings when he mistakenly came to a stranger's home around 6 a.m. 

Hartmann, 49, was making coffee and getting ready for work when investigators believe he became aware of Fernandez and co-defendant Oliver Schor, 24, also of Sound Beach, attempting to enter his home from the backyard. A neighbor’s Ring camera picked up the sound of three quick shots from an AR-15 rifle, a 10-second delay and then a fourth and final shot.

Schroeder said investigators believed the unarmed Hartmann was attempting to get back into his house from his blood-stained deck when the final shot was fired by one of the fleeing men.

Fernandez became a suspect after police received a tip from a woman who was with him the night before the killing. He was arrested in July 2024.

Cell tower evidence showed he and Schor were in the area at the time of the killing and then quickly fled. DNA found on a shopping bag and a cigarette butt also linked them to the property.

A recording made by a witness who entered into a cooperation agreement with prosecutors featured Fernandez confessing to shooting a man in circumstances similar to the Hartmann killing, a recording prosecutors described as a key piece of evidence.

Defense attorney Christopher Cassar, of Huntington, told the jury of 10 men and two women that prosecutors failed to prove Fernandez ever attempted to enter the home. He pointed to the lack of fingerprints at the scene and Fernandez’s interview with police in which he said he never intended to enter the home.

Cassar called Hartmann’s killing a "terrible tragedy," but argued Fernandez was not guilty of the crimes charged. He said Schor, who was also indicted for second-degree murder and is due back in court next month, brought the guns and pulled the trigger. 

"They deserve justice," Cassar said of Hartmann’s family seated in the second row of the gallery during Thursday's summations. "They don’t [get justice] from someone overcharged for something he didn’t do."

But Schroeder said Fernandez "was the leader" who drove all the action that morning with Schor following his lead. The prosecutor said it ultimately does not matter who pulled the trigger because the duo "acted in concert" and were responsible for each other’s actions under the law.

Schroeder told the jury that Fernandez had more than 18 months between the incident and his arrest to arrive at his version of events.

In an interrogation video played for the jury, Fernandez identified Schor as the triggerman and told detectives he "knew this day would come." He said he spent the months in between consuming drugs and hoping it was all "a dream" and would "go away."

"It may have been a dream for him," Schroeder said before displaying a photograph of Hartmann with his wife and daughters for the jury to see. "It was a nightmare for those people."

Fernandez was acquitted of third-degree robbery for the theft of items from a Manorville gas station prosecutors said he used to conceal his identity. The jury instead convicted him of petit larceny. 

By Grant Parpan

grant.parpan@newsday.com@GrantParpan

Grant Parpan covers Suffolk County courts and federal courts for Newsday. A Long Island native, he joined Newsday in 2022.