LI man who killed family, self with shotgun feared he was being 'cut out of the will' after mother's death: police

MINEOLA, N.Y. (1010 WINS) – The man who shot and killed four family members and himself at a Long Island home Sunday had been grieving his recently deceased mother and feared he’d be kicked out of the home he'd shared with her for years, Nassau County police said Monday as they revealed new details in the horrific murder-suicide.

Joseph DeLucia Jr., a 59-year-old auto mechanic with a history of mental health problems, was distraught over the passing of his 95-year-old mother, Theresa DeLucia, who he'd lived with all his life, according to police.

Theresa DeLucia died on Aug. 19 and her funeral was Friday, just two days before the quadruple shooting and suicide on Wyoming Court in Syosset.

DeLucia, his three older siblings and his 30-year-old niece had been sitting in a back den of the home, drinking Starbucks and waiting to meet with a realtor to put the home on the market, around 12:30 p.m. Sunday when DeLucia opened fire with a registered pump-action shotgun that was recovered at the scene.

“The perception of Joseph Jr. was that he was being cut out of the will and was going to be displaced without a place to go,” said Nassau Police Captain Stephen Fitzpatrick at a news conference in Mineola. “Because of that perception, he decided that day to get a loaded Mossberg shotgun, 12 gauge, approach them in the rear area of the house, and from the kitchen fired 12 shots, striking all four of them multiple times.”

After shooting them, he walked onto the front lawn “shouting indiscriminately” and fatally shot himself in the chest, Fitzpatrick said.

Nassau Police Commissioner Patrick Ryder was among those who responded to a 911 call from a neighbor who heard his screams.

“In 41 years, that is probably one of the most horrific scenes I’ve ever seen, walking into the back room of that house where these four victims lie after being shot multiple times,” Ryder said.

The four victims were identified as Joanne Kearns, 69, of Tampa; Frank DeLucia, 63, of North Carolina; and Tina Hammond, 64, of East Patchogue; as well as Hammond’s daughter, Victoria Hammond, 30, of East Patchogue.

Surviving relatives told police that he was not being cut out of the will and that he was "being taken care of but would have to relocate."

According to police, there were warning signs and unconfirmed rumors among neighbors that Joseph DeLucia was considering acting out violently over having to leave the home.

“There was talk in that community about the distress of this shooter that he had decided he did not want to leave his residence after his mom died,” Ryder said.

“As a community, we hear things, we know things, we see things—and if we don’t say something, sometimes the outcomes are like what we get yesterday,” he said.

There was only one prior call to the house in 2022 for a wellness check on Joseph DeLucia. However, he wasn't displaying any signs at the time that would have led officers to take him against his will, including any indications he was a danger to himself or others, police said.

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