Selden man indicted on murder charge

The second of two men charged with killing a Selden man was indicted on a murder charge.

Alex Fernandez, 18, of Port Jefferson, pleaded not guilty Tuesday in Suffolk County Court to taking part in the shooting of Luis Vargas, 21, in a Coram backyard on Feb. 27.

Suffolk Assistant District Attorney Raphael Pearl said Vargas had an altercation with Fernandez and his codefendant, Eduardo Nunez, 20, of Port Jefferson. Pearl said Fernandez approached Vargas with a knife in his hand while Nunez shot him in the chest.

Pearl said Fernandez gave written and videotaped confessions to detectives after he turned himself in the day after the killing.

Defense attorney Toni Marie Angeli argued that her client is not a flight risk. Although he was born in the Dominican Republic, he lives here legally, she said.

Still, Judge James Hudson ordered Fernandez held without bail.