Brentwood man indicted in execution-style slay

A Brentwood man pleaded not guilty Monday to a charge of executing a man lying on the ground after the victim had been knocked out in a fight outside a bar.

Elvi Portillo Aguilar, 24, is charged with second-degree murder in the Aug. 18 death of Edgar Perez Avalos, 30.

Suffolk Assistant District Attorney Glenn Kurtzrock said Portillo Aguilar was caught on videotape committing "a cold-blooded, execution-style murder" in the parking lot of Migueleno's sports bar in Brentwood.

Kurtzrock said Portillo Aguilar watched as two of his fellow MS-13 gang members, Elvis Sazo and Jose Misael Hernandez, argued with Perez Avalos and Carlos Contreras shortly before 4 a.m. Perez Avalos and Contreras eventually walked away, but Sazo and Misael Hernandez followed them and attacked them, Kurtzrock said.

Sazo took off his belt and whacked Contreras in the head with the buckle, while Misael Hernandez hit Perez Avalos with a tree branch, knocking him out, Kurtzrock said. Sazo and Misael Hernandez, who are both charged with second-degree assault, chased Contreras from the scene, Kurtzrock said.

Meanwhile, Portillo Aguilar walked over from his car to the motionless Perez Avalos and shot him once in the back of the head, Kurtzrock said.

There is no evidence that Sazo and Misael Hernandez knew Portillo Aguilar intended to kill the victim, Kurtzrock said. Portillo Aguilar apparently had nothing to do with the dispute the other men were having. When detectives asked Portillo Aguilar if he intended to kill Perez Avalos, Kurtzrock said, the defendant laughed, as if the answer weren't obvious.

Suffolk County Court Judge Stephen Braslow ordered Portillo Aguilar held without bail and Misael Hernandez held on bail of $75,000 cash or $150,000 bond. Sazo will be arraigned Tuesday.

Portillo Aguilar's attorney, Jason Bassett of Central Islip, said it is still "very early in the investigation."