Nicholas D'Agostino, of Yonkers, sentenced to 20 years to life in prison for fatally shooting Yusef Staine on an LIRR train in 2022

A Yonkers man who pleaded guilty earlier this year to fatally shooting his friend execution style on a parked Long Island Rail Road train in 2022 was sentenced to 20 years to life in prison during an emotional hearing in a Riverhead courtroom on Thursday.

Nicholas D’Agostino, 22, kept his head bowed through most of the hearing as the family of Yusef Staine described how the murder has crippled them with physical and emotional pain. D’Agostino, they said, robbed their community of a passionate, compassionate, creative young man.

"Feed him to the crocodiles," one of the two dozen Staine family members — most wearing T-shirts bearing a photo of the victim — shouted as court officers led D’Agostino away following the sentencing.

"Murderer," another yelled.

Suffolk County prosecutors have not provided a motive for the killing, and Staine’s family said they can’t comprehend why D’Agostino opened fire on his friend, a 20-year-old from West Babylon who was just blooming into adulthood.

"Why did you shoot him from behind like a coward?" Staine’s mother, Pamela Usher, asked D’Agostino while delivering a victim impact statement. "Did you feel anything as you pulled the trigger? Why?"

D’Agostino pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and weapons charges on Jan. 29 before acting Suffolk Supreme Court Justice Steven Pilewski, moments before jury selection for his trial was set to begin. He had faced a sentence of 25 years to life if convicted at trial.

Staine’s murder was the first on a Long Island Rail Road train in nearly 30 years, after a 1993 rampage by gunman Colin Ferguson left six people dead at the Merillon Avenue station and injured 19 others.

Dressed in a black hoodie and dark pants, his hands cuffed behind his back, D’Agostino kept his head down through most of the hearing. When Pilewski asked him if he wanted to address the court, D’Agostino whispered to his attorney, Tara Laterza, who then told the judge that he was too emotional to speak.

Laterza said D’Agostino had accepted responsibility for his actions and expressed remorse for the slaying.

"Still a coward," one of Staine’s relatives said loudly.

D’Agostino and Staine were high school friends who reconnected with each other before the fatal shooting, Usher said. D’Agostino, who had moved to Arizona, returned to New York to visit Staine in February 2022.

The two men traveled to New York City with two other friends on Feb. 15, 2022. They were returning alone on the LIRR to Wyandanch when they missed their stop early the next morning and boarded a westbound train parked in Ronkonkoma, prosecutors have said.

D’Agostino shot Staine in the back of the head as he approached him in the train car, according to prosecutors. D’Agostino fired an additional round in Staine’s torso after the victim fell to the ground.

Authorities said the killing was captured on MTA surveillance video. He used a rideshare app to leave Ronkonkoma and took a Greyhound bus from the Port Authority terminal in Manhattan nearly 24 hours later. D’Agostino fled to Arizona, authorities said, but was arrested 15 months after the murder in Yonkers.

Relatives described Staine as full of life. He was a young entrepreneur who aspired to start his own clothing line. Staine was passionate about food and cooking. He loved sports, his family said, especially basketball. He talked about creating a foundation to help the poor and needy.

"He was one of the shining lights of my life," said Mildred Usher, Staine’s grandmother. "From the time he was born, he brought me immeasurable joy."

The murder, Pamela Usher said, has destroyed her health and left her emotionally scarred. Other family members, too, continue to struggle with grief and loss. Staine’s older brother, Anthony Holden, was unable to read his victim impact statement after becoming overwhelmed by grief and tears. Usher joined him at the podium and read the statement as Holden sobbed.

"My brother deserved to live," she said, reading Holden’s statement. "He deserved a future."

Usher told D’Agostino she has forgiven him for taking her son’s life even as she suffers from unrelenting pain. "God knows you need love, poor child," she said.