Incident location, Long Island
What Happened
A Long Beach man has been indicted on second-degree murder charges after fatally stabbing a Bellport mother of three during a terrifying early-morning drive across Long Island on May 16, 2026, according to Patch. The victim, Juliann Bachmann, 30, was found with a severe neck wound at a Speedway Gas Station in Yaphank and was later pronounced dead at NYU Langone Hospital-Suffolk. The accused, Michael McHenry, 40, of Long Beach, was arrested at the scene by an off-duty Suffolk County police captain who had been following the blood-soaked vehicle.
The sequence of events began in the early morning hours of May 16, when Bachmann and a friend drove their black sedan to Long Beach to pick up McHenry, who had moved in with Bachmann and her three children just two months prior, Patch reports. Just after 6:30 a.m., Bachmann dropped her friend off at a motel in Shirley, leaving McHenry as her sole passenger. What followed, according to Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney, was a brutal and escalating attack on a moving vehicle witnessed by multiple bystanders on public roads.
At approximately 7:15 a.m., a witness observed a man — sitting in the passenger seat of the black sedan — grab a female in the vehicle by the hair and repeatedly strike her in the face while she screamed that he was going to kill her, Tierney said. That witness called 911. A second witness then observed the black sedan traveling on Montauk Highway and saw a woman in the driver’s seat screaming for help. The witness watched the sedan pull into an automotive shop in Shirley, where a man exited the passenger side, pulled the female driver out of the car as she clutched the left side of her neck, and then sped away in the sedan with the woman still inside, according to the DA. Video surveillance from the automotive shop captured the entire encounter, Tierney said.
Five minutes later, at approximately 7:20 a.m., an off-duty Suffolk County police captain was driving on Victory Avenue in Yaphank when the black sedan came up behind him, tailgating at a high rate of speed before passing his vehicle. When the captain glanced at the sedan, he noticed the headrest was soaked in blood and that a person in the rear seat appeared to be in distress, Tierney said. The captain followed the vehicle into the Speedway Gas Station in Yaphank, where McHenry got out of the driver’s seat and pulled Bachmann — who had a visible neck wound — from the rear passenger seat. McHenry was arrested at that location.
Bachmann was rushed to NYU Langone Hospital-Suffolk, where she was pronounced dead. The Suffolk County Medical Examiner performed an autopsy and ruled her cause of death to be a stab wound to the neck. Law enforcement subsequently executed a search warrant on the black sedan, which was described as covered in bloodstains. During that search, detectives recovered an open tactical knife from inside the vehicle, the DA said.
Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney issued a stark statement following the indictment: “A young mother of three was brutally killed, allegedly by this defendant. This office will pursue every avenue available under the law to deliver justice to her, her family, and her three children.”
Location & Road Context
The fatal sequence of events spanned several Shirley and Yaphank locations, tracing a path along Montauk Highway and Victory Avenue before ending at the Speedway Gas Station in Yaphank. Montauk Highway — a heavily trafficked artery running the length of Long Island’s South Shore — passes through dense residential and commercial zones in communities including Shirley, making the public nature of this attack particularly alarming. Victory Avenue in Yaphank connects to the broader Yaphank area near the Long Island Expressway corridor, a stretch routinely monitored by Suffolk County law enforcement. The presence of an off-duty police captain in the area proved pivotal in stopping the vehicle and apprehending the suspect.
Investigation & Legal Proceedings
According to Patch, McHenry was arraigned on Wednesday, June 4, 2026, before Supreme Court Justice Steven A. Pilewski on one count of second-degree murder, a Class A-I felony. Justice Pilewski ordered McHenry remanded — meaning he will remain held without bail — for the duration of the case. McHenry is due back in court on July 17, 2026, and faces up to 25 years to life in prison if convicted on the top count. He is being represented by defense attorneys Katherine Fernandez and David Arpino; neither could be immediately reached for comment at the time of reporting, according to Patch. The open tactical knife recovered from the blood-soaked sedan is expected to serve as key physical evidence in the prosecution.
Broader Impact
Second-degree murder under New York Penal Law is classified as a Class A-I felony — the most serious category of felony in the state — carrying a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 to 25 years and a maximum of life imprisonment. DA Tierney’s office indicated it intends to pursue every available avenue under the law, signaling a vigorous prosecution. The case also underscores the critical role bystander intervention plays in such emergencies: multiple 911 calls from witnesses on Montauk Highway, combined with the alertness of an off-duty law enforcement officer on Victory Avenue, created the chain of events that led directly to McHenry’s arrest on the day of the attack.