In the quiet suburban neighborhood of Syosset, New York, a family gathering turned into a scene of unimaginable horror on a Sunday in late August. Among the victims of this tragic event was Victoria Hammond, a 30-year-old female. She, along with her mother and other relatives, had convened at the family home on Wyoming Avenue, a place that held years of memories but was now a source of deadly conflict.
The family had recently mourned the loss of its matriarch, and conversations had
turned to the future of the house where Victoria's uncle, Joseph DeLucia Jr., resided. Fearful of being displaced and left with nothing from his mother's estate, DeLucia's distress escalated into a violent rage. On August 25, 2024, he used a 12-gauge shotgun to end the lives of his visiting family members inside the home. Victoria, her mother Tina Hammond, her aunt Joanne Kearns, and her uncle Frank DeLucia all perished in the attack.
Following the horrific murders of his niece and siblings, the 59-year-old gunman, Joseph DeLucia Jr., walked out to the front lawn of the house. There, in a final act of despair, he turned the shotgun on himself. When police arrived at the scene after receiving reports of gunshots, they discovered DeLucia deceased in a lawn chair from a self-inflicted wound. The case was determined to be a murder-suicide, stemming from a dispute over inheritance and the sale of the family home. No arrests were made as the sole suspect had taken his own life. The incident left the community in shock and a family shattered by a sudden and brutal act of violence.
