A man has been charged with murder in a fatal stabbing along a Long Island Expressway service road in Suffolk County, an attack that shut down a busy stretch of roadway for hours as investigators worked the scene. The killing, which unfolded during a fight, ended with one man dead and another in custody facing the most serious of charges.
According to police, the deadly encounter happened on Express Drive South, the south service road of the Long Island Expressway, near Route 112. Authorities say the two men got into a fight there, a confrontation that turned lethal in an area of the roadway that would soon be cordoned off as officers descended on the scene.
The victim was identified as Timothy Stark. Police say he was stabbed in the back during the fight, a wound that would prove fatal. After the stabbing, the man accused of attacking him drove off from the scene, leaving Stark gravely hurt as those nearby tried to make sense of what had just happened.
Stark was rushed to a hospital, but his injuries were too severe, and he was pronounced dead there. The loss turned what police initially treated as a violent incident on the service road into a homicide investigation, with detectives working to piece together the sequence of events that led to the fatal wound.
Investigators shut down the area around the scene for hours as they gathered evidence. People who passed by described seeing items scattered across the roadway, including a hat, shoes and clothing, and a section of the road blocked off, as they tried to understand what had unfolded on a route that many travel every day.
Police later announced an arrest, identifying the suspect as Joseph Norton, of Manorville. He was charged with murder in connection with Stark's death and was due to face a judge, a court appearance that would mark the first step in the prosecution of the case as it moves through the criminal justice system.
The stabbing added to a wrenching stretch of violence in Suffolk County and left investigators focused on establishing exactly what sparked the deadly fight. Authorities continued to examine the circumstances of the killing, while the closure of the service road served as a stark reminder of how quickly an ordinary roadway can become the site of a homicide.