Hampton Bays man charged in Christmas Day fatal shooting, police say

A Hampton Bays man has been charged with fatally shooting a North Sea man in Southampton on Christmas Day morning, in what the Southampton Town police chief said was not "random."

Dominick Parisi, 57, faces a charge of murder in the second-degree, in the death of Steven Byrnes, Suffolk County police said Monday. Parisi was arrested Sunday, police said.

He was held overnight at Southampton Town Police headquarters in Hampton Bays and arraigned at Southampton Town Justice Court on Monday.

Parisi was held without bail, said Tania Lopez, spokeswoman for the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office.

Parisi's attorney, Jason Bassett of Central Islip, could not be immediately reached for comment. Parisi is due back in court Jan. 24, Lopez said.

On Dec. 25, Southampton Town police responded to a burglary call at a Roses Grove Road home at about 8:45 a.m. and found Byrnes, 53, was shot, police said. Byrnes was pronounced dead at the scene.

Southampton Town Police Chief Steven Skrynecki previously told Newsday that investigators believe Byrnes was targeted.

"This was a targeted event and not a random event," Skrynecki said in an interview two days after the shooting. "I am getting questions in the local community and concerns that this may have been a random situation that they would be obviously much more concerned about. To alleviate some of those concerns, we want to let them know that our joint investigation thus far shows this was targeted."