Noel Bermudez-Chin, of East Northport, told police he stabbed grandmother's fiance, prosecutors say

An East Northport teen called 911 early Sunday to tell police he threw boiling oil and water onto his grandmother's sleeping fiance and fatally stabbed him, prosecutors said Monday.

Wearing a white jail-issued jumpsuit, Noel Bermudez-Chin, 18, appeared Monday in a Central Islip courtroom, where his attorney entered a plea of not guilty to the second-degree murder charge in the death of Joseph Falvo, 61. Falvo had been sleeping on a couch in a mobile home when he was attacked.

Suffolk County District Judge Evan Zuckerman ordered Bermudez-Chin remanded to jail without bail.

Bermudez-Chin's attorney, Peter Mayer, said his client had no criminal record.

"He is presumed innocent until it is resolved," Mayer said outside court. "I ask everyone to keep an open mind in this case and I don't want anyone to rush to judgment."

Bermudez-Chin was staying at a mobile home on his family's property after a fire damaged the home on Catherine Street in East Northport in December, authorities said.

Bermudez-Chin threw a mixture of burning oil and water onto Falvo shortly before 4 a.m. and then began stabbing him repeatedly in the back, neck and chest after the victim fell on the floor, Suffolk Assistant District Attorney Michelle Chiuchiolo said in court Monday.

When the teen's grandmother came into the room, Bermudez-Chin ran from the home but then called 911, prosecutors said, and admitted throwing boiling water on Falvo and stabbing him. 

Bermudez-Chin was arrested in front of Northport High School and made several statements "expressing little remorse" to homicide detectives, including "It is what it is," Chiuchiolo said.

During a video confession, Bermudez-Chin told detectives, "I threw hot water on him and stabbed him five or six times in the back and then stabbed him in the stomach," according to court records.

Falvo was taken to Huntington Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 4:30 a.m.

Police recovered a large knife used in the stabbing from the home, according to prosecutors. Prosecutors said there was also blood and boiled oil spattered on the mobile home and the couch.

Bermudez-Chin's family left court crying Monday. His brother said the teen has schizophrenia.

"He's been struggling for the last couple years since his diagnosis, unmedicated by his own choice," his older brother Anthony Ortiz said. "I just really want him to get the help that he needs."