A man was arrested for allegedly killing a former Maryland resident and dumping his body on Rockaway Beach, leaving him to be discovered partially buried days after Superstorm Sandy, prosecutors announced Tuesday.
Thyron Aycock, 43, was charged with second-degree murder and arraigned before the Queens Criminal Court on Oct. 22. He was remanded to custody and is due to return to court on Nov. 6.
If convicted, Aycock faces 25 years to life in prison.
“The victim in this case was brutally killed – his face and body battered with a blunt object – and then he was disposed of on the devastated shoreline after Super Storm Sandy,” said Acting District Attorney John M. Ryan. “The defendant, who got away with this heinous killing for years, is now in custody and faces spending the rest of his life locked behind bars.”
According to charges, between Oct. 29 and Nov. 7, 2012, Aycock allegedly struck 32-year-old Shawn Rucker repeatedly with an unknown object, ultimately causing his death. The DA’s office stated that Rucker had recently relocated from Baltimore, Maryland to New York City prior to his death.
Rucker’s body was bound and wrapped in a plastic garbage bag and buried on Rockaway Beach. He was discovered days later by workers cleaning up the shoreline following Superstorm Sandy.
