In the late hours of June 3, 2015, a burst of gunfire shattered the quiet of a Wyandanch, New York street, leaving a scene of tragedy that would perplex investigators for years to come. Inside a parked Chevrolet TrailBlazer on Davidson Street, 25-year-old William Madrey, a Black / African American male, sat with three women. It was shortly before midnight when a lone gunman approached the vehicle and opened fire, ending the lives of Madrey and two of his passengers: 23-year-old Stephanie
Almedina Rivera and 23-year-old Ciara Smith. A fourth woman in the SUV was wounded but survived the attack.
Madrey, a father and aspiring rap artist who had recently moved to the neighborhood, was found near the driver's seat of the borrowed vehicle. While his family maintained he was not involved in gang activity and was focused on his growing family, Suffolk County police stated that Madrey was a self-admitted member of the Bloods street gang. This revelation led detectives to investigate the violent ambush as a possible gang-related incident, a theory supported by the neighborhood's reputation for such activity. The community was left reeling, with residents expressing fear and frustration over the persistent violence in their area.
In the immediate aftermath, the investigation was active, with police canvassing the area and urging anyone with information to come forward, offering a cash reward for tips leading to an arrest. However, the case grew cold, hampered by what law enforcement described as a "no-snitching" culture that made it difficult to gather leads. No arrests were ever made in the triple homicide.
A surprising and violent turn of events months later hinted at the undercurrents of street justice that ran parallel to the official investigation. In July 2015, three individuals, including Madrey's housemate and music partner, Dominic Peterson, were charged with kidnapping and assaulting a woman. Peterson's lawyer claimed in court that his client believed the man who was with the kidnapped woman, Justin Rivera, was the person responsible for the June 3rd killings. This act of apparent vigilante justice did not lead to a breakthrough in the murder case, and authorities would not confirm if Rivera was ever considered a suspect. The gunman in the tragic deaths of William Madrey, Stephanie Almedina Rivera, and Ciara Smith remains at large.
