Police

Riverside murder suspect indicted in county court

A Riverside man has been indicted for intentional murder in the Aug. 10 killing of his live-in girlfriend, court records show. 

Bayron Fajardo-Gonzalez, 33, of Ludlam Avenue in Riverside, was indicted by a grand jury Aug. 13, and arraigned on a grand jury charge of second-degree murder with intent Friday, before Judge Anthony Senft in Suffolk County Court in Riverside. He was remanded to the county jail.

The indictment means the case will now be tried in county court, which can enact steeper penalties.

According to the Southampton Town Police criminal complaint, Mr. Fajardo-Gonzalez stabbed Tania Fox multiple times with a knife, causing her death.

The complaint states that the charges were based in part on the oral admissions of Mr. Fajardo-Gonzalez, who stated that “I stabbed her because she was with another guy.”

Ms. Fox, 45, a mother of four, was described by friends and relatives are being “selfless” in an August 11 interview with the News-Review. 

“She went above and beyond for everybody else,” said her daughter, Myrka Fox, 22. “She put everyone before her.”

“She was a hard worker for whatever she had,” said Miguel Rivera, the victim’s uncle, in an interview.

Mr. Fajardo-Gonzalez, a house painter from Guatemala, arrived at the house he shared with Ms. Fox just before midnight on Aug 10 and found he was locked out, family members and a witness told the News-Review. 

He then smashed a window and made his way inside the house, where he was seen carrying a large knife and calling out for Ms. Fox, whom he found hiding in an attic, according to a witness. 

Ms. Fox was taken to Peconic Bay Medical Center, where she was later pronounced dead. 

A GoFundMe page that was set up to offset funeral costs for Ms. Fox raised $13,240. 

Mr. Fajardo-Gonzalez is being represented in court by John Halverson of Patchogue, a court-appointed attorney.

His next court date is Sept. 14 before Judge Senft.