A woman was apprehended after allegedly decapitating a statue of Jesus outside a Long Island Catholic church, police said.
Suffolk County Police charged Deyonna Subert, 41, with second-degree criminal mischief in connection with the damage of a Sacred Heart of Jesus statue at St. Mary’s Church in East Islip, describing her as “undomiciled.”
Suffolk County Police reported that Deyonna Subert was arrested outside 221 West Main Street in Bay Shore at 6:39 a.m. following an investigation by Hate Crimes Unit detectives. On May 15 at 11:15 p.m., someone damaged the statue at the church, located at 118 East Main St.
Subert was jailed overnight at the Fourth Precinct and was due to be arraigned Thursday in Central Islip’s First District Court, police said.
According to a video from News12 Long Island, churchgoers spotted the statue’s head missing during services and First Communion festivities on Sunday. We had first communions across the road in the auditorium, and this is where the kids came to get their pictures taken,” St. Mary’s priest Father Anthony Iaconis told News12.
“Iaconis later discovered the statue’s head in nearby bushes. “Regina Vavricka, a long-time parishioner, expressed concern that everyone would be offended. It makes no difference whether you belong to this parish or not or whether you are Catholic or Jewish.”
The church’s pastor reported that donations were already flooding in to repair the monument, which is anticipated to be fixed within days. “Yes, it’s a terrible thing,” Iaconis admitted. “I only ask that folks pray for the person who did this. It is not right, yet we can still pray for them.
Detectives from the Hate Crimes Unit investigated the incident. “A criminal charge is an accusation,” Suffolk County Police stated in their release. “A defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.”
Leave a Reply