C. Islip man convicted of killing neighbor

A Central Islip man was convicted Monday afternoon of killing a neighbor in a dispute over money and a television.

A Suffolk County Court jury deliberated less than two hours before finding Deighton Reed, 22, guilty of second-degree murder in the December 2009 death of Valentino Sanchez, 21, of Brentwood, said Robert Clifford, spokesman for the Suffolk district attorney's office.

Judge Stephen Braslow set sentencing for May 23. Reed faces a maximum of 25 years to life in prison.

Prosecutors said Reed went to Sanchez's home with a Mossberg Tactical Turkey pump-action shotgun. During an argument in Sanchez's upstairs bedroom over a small amount of money, Reed fired several shots, blowing a hole in the wall and another in the victim.

Reed fled to North Carolina, where he was arrested in January 2010 after a traffic stop. Suffolk detectives interviewed him there and he signed a confession, they testified.

After the killing, Reed told detectives he burned the clothing he was wearing nearby. Police found a pile of ashes where he said he did that.

Police never found the gun, but they did find evidence that he purchased it at the Bohemia gun shop where he said he bought it.

Reed's attorney, Paul Barahal of Smithtown, could not be reached for comment.