SUFFOLK COUNTY, NY — Suffolk County District Attorney Raymond A. Tierney has announced the indictment of 29-year-old Pennsylvania resident Paulin Cerisier. Cerisier is charged with second-degree murder and related offenses in the 2021 killing of Maresse Decherson-Stevenson in Amityville.
According to DA Tierney, the incident occurred at a backyard party on July 18, 2021. Cerisier allegedly arrived at the gathering around 2:50 AM, approached Decherson-Stevenson, his ex-girlfriend’s uncle, and shot him in the left shoulder without any provocation, leading to his death shortly after.
Cerisier was arrested by the Suffolk County Police Department’s Homicide Squad on July 15, 2024, at a hotel in Washington County, Pennsylvania. He was arraigned on August 7, 2024, before Supreme Court Justice Timothy P. Mazzei, facing one count of second-degree murder and two counts of criminal possession of a weapon.
Justice Mazzei ordered Cerisier to be held without bail pending trial. The defendant, represented by attorney Christopher Gioe, is due back in court on September 18, 2024. If convicted of the top charge, he faces 25 years to life in prison.
The case is being prosecuted by Assistant District Attorneys Dena Rizopoulos and Eric Aboulafia, with investigative support from Detectives Walter Sosnowski and David Gelsomino of the Suffolk County Police Department’s Homicide Squad.
