SUFFOLK COUNTY, N.Y. — Eduardo Vega, 58, of Islip Terrace, pleaded guilty to manslaughter in the first degree for fatally stabbing his son-in-law, Roshane McLaren, in the driveway of their home, Suffolk County District Attorney Raymond A. Tierney announced.
Vega is expected to face up to 25 years in prison following his plea on Friday. His wife and co-defendant, Tanya Denis, 48, previously pleaded guilty to hindering prosecution for her role in helping Vega flee the scene after the stabbing.
“This defendant killed Roshane McLaren, his own son-in-law, leaving his infant grandchild without a father,” District Attorney Tierney said in a statement. “I thank the Suffolk County Police Department’s Homicide Squad for their thorough investigation which led to this plea.”
The fatal incident occurred on September 27, 2022, when a verbal altercation between Vega and one of Denis’ daughters’ husbands escalated in the backyard of their home. Vega threw a lawn chair and threatened to hit him with a baseball bat. When the daughters tried to intervene, Vega punched one of them in the face. McLaren, 34, helped deescalate the situation, and Vega left the home.
Shortly after, McLaren learned that Vega had struck his wife during the altercation. When Vega returned to the home with Denis, McLaren confronted him in the driveway, where Vega stabbed him twice in the chest, piercing his heart, lung, diaphragm, and stomach. McLaren was transported to South Shore University Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
Vega fled the scene but turned himself in to police on October 2, 2022, after Denis provided him with money and drove him to the Brentwood train station. Denis pleaded guilty on September 4, 2024, to hindering prosecution in the third degree.
Vega is scheduled to be sentenced on October 16, 2024, and faces 25 years in prison followed by five years of post-release supervision. Denis’ sentencing has not yet been scheduled.
The case was prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Elena Tomaro of the Homicide Bureau and Assistant District Attorney Veronica McMahon of the Major Crime Bureau. The investigation was conducted by Suffolk County Police Detective Michael Palumbo of the Homicide Squad.