Deon Ewers pleads not guilty in Valley Stream shooting death of Majid Morris
Deon Ewers, 50, of California was arrested in connection with the death of a man in a Valley Stream home on Saturday, Nov. 7, 2015, police said. Credit: NCPD
A Los Angeles man charged with second-degree murder in the fatal shooting of his estranged wife's boyfriend in Valley Stream pleaded not guilty Sunday morning and was ordered held without bail.
At the arraignment for murder suspect Deon Ewers, 50, in First District Court in Hempstead, prosecutors called him a "flight risk."
Nassau homicide detectives had arrested Ewers in Oceanside on Saturday. That was a day after police said he forced his way into the house of his estranged wife about 7 a.m. and shot and killed a man identified Sunday in court papers and by relatives as Majid Morris, 34.
The woman and the 14-year-old son she had with Ewers were inside the home at 26 E. Hawthorne Ave. at the time of the shooting but were not injured, police said.
Police said the couple separated last year after about 13 years of marriage. Ewers flew to New York on Thursday night, and within an hour of landing had forced himself upstairs in the Valley Stream home, authorities said. Nassau police and prosecutors said Ewers shot the man five times in a bedroom with a semiautomatic handgun.
Authorities said Ewers had no prior criminal record, but prosecutors said Sunday that he had an active felony warrant in Miami-Dade County in Florida. The nature of the warrant could not be determined Sunday night.
Jordana Snape, 24, of Springfield, Massachusetts, a sister of Morris, said her brother was originally from the country of Jamaica. She described Morris as a "sweetheart" and said he had an 8-year-old daughter.
Majid Morris, who police say was fatally shot by Deon Ewers, 50, in the home of Ewers' estranged wife in Valley Stream on Friday, Nov. 6, 2015, is shown in a family photo.
Morris had worked in construction, driving materials to and from local building sites, and was weighing his next career move, Snape said.
"He just wanted to be a millionaire," Snape said. "He had plans."
His friends called him "Maj" for short, or "Stylo," because he was a "shopaholic" praised for his wardrobe of Versace jeans, Gucci sneakers and Ralph Lauren polo shirts.
More than a dozen of Morris' relatives attended the hearing as Ewers, who is expected back in court Thursday, stood in a white jumpsuit, his hands cuffed behind his back.
"Everybody is crying," Snape said as she headed to the exit.
Scott Eidler is a deputy editor for the towns department at Newsday. Scott has worked at Newsday since 2012 and previously covered municipal government and education.
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