Friends, family mourn murdered Albany student

Richard Bailey's death at age 22 doesn't make sense on many levels, said Joseph Siederman, a friend of the University at Albany student, who was shot and killed last week.

Anyone who knew Bailey, a high school athlete from Wantagh killed Oct. 20 while walking to his off-campus apartment in Albany, knew he wasn't confrontational, Siederman said.

And if his death was the result of a robbery, "I don't understand how you could take somebody's life over a couple of bucks," Siederman said Saturday.

Siederman, also 22, was one of the dozens of people who attended a wake for Bailey at the Thomas F. Dalton Funeral Home in Levittown.

"It boggles the mind," Siederman said, standing on the funeral home porch. "You're just walking home to your apartment and you lose your life."

Albany City Police Det. James Miller said Saturday there was no new information on the investigation of Bailey's death.Police don't have a motive or a suspect. On the night Bailey was killed, a woman told detectives she heard a shot while driving, stopped and saw two males on bicycles nearby.

But police said they don't know if the males are suspects or witnesses. On the night of the shooting, several University at Albany students were victims of random robberies, authorities said.

According to police, nothing was taken from Bailey, who had aspirations to become a police officer.

Robert Milone said he'd always remember Bailey on the baseball field, where he excelled at every position he played."We all went to high school together," Milone, 22, of Seaford. "Played baseball together. It's a shame."

Carmine Ciserano, 71, of Levittown, said he coached Bailey as part of the Levittown Red Devil youth football league and had known him since he was 8 years old.

"He was a very good athlete," Ciserano said. "He was a pleasure to have on the team -- respectful, coachable, never any trouble."

Bailey was a member of Gen. Douglas MacArthur High School's football team when it won its first county championship in 2002.

Like others at the wake, Ciserano said he was at a loss to explain Bailey's death.

"What happened up there I don't know," Ciserano said. "Here's a kid age 22. He's going home at 11:30. I can't get my grandson to come home before 2. He was a good young man."