Bridgehampton Native, Wife Dead in Apparent Murder-Suicide
The 29-year-old man who police say murdered his wife before taking his own life at their house in Mastic Beach Thursday was a Bridgehampton native, Wayne Street. His wife, Jenni Lee Street, 28, worked at Southampton Hospital.
The couple had six children. Four of them had arrived home from school to find themselves locked out of the house on Thursday afternoon. The man they went to for help saw Mr. Street’s body on the floor and called police, who forced their way into the house. Husband and wife were both declared dead at the scene.
Two toddlers were in the house at the time but were unharmed. All six children were taken to a local hospital, where Child Protective Services interviewed them, police said.
“It is sad and unfortunate,” Marsha Kenny, director of marketing and public affairs for Southampton Hospital, said Friday. “Our hearts go out to the family.”
According to Ryan Green, a Suffolk County Police Department press liaison, Mr. Street used a handgun in the shootings. The family had lived in the house for only a few months, she said.
Police would not comment as to any possible motive for the crime.
According to court documents, Mr. Street had a troubled history with the law.
In 2007, he was charged with possessing and selling narcotics, eventually pleading guilty to attempting to sell narcotics, a felony.
In June 2009, he was arrested by East Hampton Town police on multiple charges, including two felony counts of assault. He eventually pleaded guilty to two counts of misdemeanor assault and was sentenced to a year in county jail. But while those charges were pending he was arrested once after a brawl in Hampton Bays and a second time after a domestic dispute with his father turned violent. In the domestic incident he was charged with two misdemeanors, menacing and possession of a weapon. The outcome of that case is not clear.
His next arrest came after being released from jail the following year, when East Hampton Town police charged him with a simple violation, disorderly conduct.
On Jan. 22, 2012, according to court records, Mr. Street was again arrested, this time by Suffolk County police, after a traffic stop for a seat belt violation. He was charged with weapons possession, eventually pleading guilty to the charge at the misdemeanor level. He was released on Feb. 10, 2012, as part of the plea deal, it appears from court records, and was sentenced that April 9 to time served, plus three years probation.
In January of this year, just three months shy of completing his probation sentence, the Suffolk County Probation Department charged him with violating the terms he had agreed to when he pleaded guilty. A warrant was issued for his arrest on Jan. 12, and he was taken into custody on April 3. He was released after $2,500 in cash bail was posted for him.