A Long Island man has been indicted for murder after allegedly flying into a jealous rage and beating a 41-year-old mother of four to death, prosecutors announced Thursday.
Duntrell R. Thomas, of Mastic Beach, is accused of fatally beating his domestic partner, Cheray Jenkins, “so severely that it caused her death,” the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office said in a news release.
The incident occurred earlier this month at the Mastic Beach home where the 30-year-old defendant and the victim were temporarily living.
According to prosecutors, Thomas accused Jenkins of having an affair with a man who lived in the same house. After confronting them on the evening of Feb. 12, he allegedly threatened to shoot the man and began attacking the victim.
He allegedly punched Jenkins before throwing her on the floor. As he continued to punch her in the face, he began stomping on her with his foot, prosecutors said.
After the other man called 911, police arrived at the scene and found the victim unresponsive, unconscious and “lying in a pool of what appeared to be her own blood.”
Jenkins was transported to Long Island Community Hospital but died two days later, without ever regaining consciousness.
She was described by her 19-year-old daughter as someone with “a pure and gentle heart” who “always felt like she had to be strong for everybody, help everybody out and set her pain aside.”
After her family chose to donate her organs, her heart, liver and both of her kidneys went on to save the lives of four people, according to the nonprofit LiveOnNY.
The four recipients of Jenkins’ organs were residents of New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Ohio, and were between the ages of 30 and 70.
On Wednesday, Thomas was indicted on charges of second-degree murder and harassment. A judge ordered him remanded pending the conclusion of the case. He’s expected back in court on March 20.
If convicted on the top count, Thomas could be sentenced to life in prison.
