Wyandanch man charged with murder in September Deer Park shooting, cops say

A Wyandanch man was charged Tuesday with the shooting death of his close friend outside a Deer Park strip joint in September.

Victor Calderon, 21, of 149 N. 22nd St., was charged with second-degree murder in the killing of Ryan Aguilar, 20, police said. Calderon is scheduled to be arraigned at First District Court in Central Islip Wednesday.

Detectives provided no motive for the Sept. 27 shooting, which occurred about 3:30 a.m. in the parking lot of Illusions Gentlemen's Club.

Calderon's attorney, Robert Macedonio, said police told him Monday they planned to charge his client and Calderon, the father of a 2-year-old girl, surrendered to Third Squad detectives at 3 p.m. Tuesday. Macedonio said Calderon is innocent and the police case against him is based on "conflicting witness statements."

Reached at his Bay Shore home Tuesday night, Aguilar's father, Alexander Aguilar, said he was surprised by the arrest.

"That was my son's best friend," Aguilar, 54, said of Calderon. "He was always at my house."

Aguilar said detectives had earlier told him Calderon was a suspect, which "shocked" him. The night of the killing, he said, the two young men had gone to the club with a third friend.

Aguilar called the arrest "good news." He said he had not spoken to detectives about it yet but may have missed their calls.

He said he had left his cellphone at home while at work Tuesday as a plumber. He said he had nine missed calls when he got home.

Aguilar said it's been "very tough" dealing with the loss of his son, who had worked in manufacturing, especially during the holiday season.

"It's a loss for me; it's a loss on his part. They were good friends. My son was a sweetheart. He wasn't a fighter."

Calderon's possible prison sentence, if convicted, is "not going to bring anything back to me. That's not the way I live my life, getting revenge on people. God is in control."

Macedonio said, "My client is deeply, deeply saddened by the loss of his best friend."

The lawyer said his investigation shows that Calderon went outside the club with someone else and "two to three" men attempted to rob them. Aguilar went outside to see what was happening and was shot by one of the suspected robbers, said Macedonio, who said no gun was found.

"They went out that night, there was an altercation. . . ." said Macedonio, whose practice is in Central Islip. "Calderon is maintaining his innocence. He's saying he's not the one that shot him."

By Nicole Fuller

nicole.fuller@newsday.com@NicoleFuller

Nicole Fuller is Newsday's senior criminal justice reporter. She began working at Newsday in 2012 and previously covered local government.