Police say the Nov. 10 stabbing left a 52-year-old Selden man dead in the parking lot near 21 Shore Road before dawn.
STONY BROOK, N.Y. — A Setauket woman was charged Thursday with second-degree murder in the fatal stabbing of a 52-year-old man outside the Stony Brook Yacht Club earlier this month, authorities said, following a pre-dawn confrontation that ended in the club’s parking lot on Nov. 10.
Prosecutors and police identified the suspect as 33-year-old Kacy Corso and the victim as Christopher Millwater of Selden. Investigators said the encounter unfolded just before 4 a.m. in a lot across from the marina entrance. Corso pleaded not guilty at an arraignment in Central Islip and was ordered held without bail. The case arrives at a delicate stage for Suffolk County, where detectives are combing surveillance video and court records to reconstruct the minutes before Millwater was found wounded and later pronounced dead at Stony Brook University Hospital.
Police were called to 21 Shore Road shortly before dawn on Nov. 10 and found Millwater on the ground with stab wounds, according to authorities. He was taken to the hospital, where he died. In a felony complaint filed by the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office, prosecutors allege Corso blocked Millwater’s vehicle in the lot and struck it to prevent him from leaving. A law enforcement source said cameras positioned on light poles around the yacht club captured portions of the confrontation. “There is extensive video in and around that lot,” a detective familiar with the case said, adding that investigators are reviewing footage from nearby businesses and municipal cameras as well.
At Thursday’s appearance, Judge Steven Weissbard ordered Corso remanded. The district attorney’s office said the investigation also focuses on alleged actions by 32-year-old Victor Panebianco, who was taken into custody in North Carolina and is expected to be extradited to New York. Authorities have described Millwater and Corso as having known each other before the incident; the precise nature of their relationship was not detailed in court. Detectives have not publicly announced the recovery of a weapon. Millwater’s relatives said he had recently completed cancer treatment, and his sister told local media that Stony Brook’s harbor was one of his favorite places to fish.
Records indicate officers first responded to the area across from the marina, which serves the Stony Brook Yacht Club and public boat ramps used by anglers and kayakers about 60 miles east of Manhattan. The lot sits near the Three Village Inn, a popular wedding venue, and is typically quiet before sunrise in November. Investigators spent hours canvassing after the attack, speaking with early-morning employees and checking whether any passing vehicles recorded the scene on dashboard cameras. In spring, court filings show Corso had been cited in an unrelated matter at a nearby boat ramp in Smithtown, though prosecutors did not say the earlier incident was connected to the homicide.
Detectives said they are working to establish a firm timeline between the evening of Nov. 9 and the 3–4 a.m. hour on Nov. 10, including phone records, social media activity and movements in and out of the marina area. Investigators have not alleged a specific motive. Toxicology results and additional forensic analysis are pending, according to a law enforcement official briefed on the case. The district attorney’s office said further charges could be presented once Panebianco is returned to Suffolk County and a fuller account is developed from video, physical evidence and witness interviews.
Corso is charged with one count of second-degree murder, which under New York law covers intentional killing. She entered a not guilty plea. A court clerk said her next appearance is scheduled for Mon., Nov. 24, in First District Court in Central Islip. Extradition proceedings for Panebianco are underway in North Carolina, where authorities said he was apprehended after leaving Long Island. Prosecutors said they will present the case to a grand jury, a step that could come as early as next week depending on the status of extradition and lab results.
On Shore Road Thursday afternoon, a thin weekday crowd moved through the marina. A groundskeeper said the lot is usually used by early anglers and delivery trucks before sunrise. “You don’t expect flashing lights down here that time of year,” he said. A fisherman who launched from the public ramp over the weekend called the scene “eerie,” noting new flowers near a light pole facing the water. A small cluster of relatives left candles by the curb and declined to speak at length, with one man saying only, “We want answers,” before walking back to a parked car.
As of late Thursday, Corso remained jailed without bail, and the homicide investigation continued. Detectives said they expect to release additional information after the next court session on Nov. 24.
Author note: Last updated November 20, 2025.