Jeremy Allen, a 44-year-old resident of East Quogue, New York, has been sentenced to life in prison without parole for the murder of his 43-year-old childhood friend, Christopher Hahn. The killing followed a six-hour ordeal captured on surveillance video at Allen's home on September 28, 2024. Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney described the attack as involving beating, suffocation, and stabbing.
The incident stemmed from a disagreement between Allen and Hahn, who had been friends since high school. They had a falling out over $1,000 that Allen owed Hahn from a boat deal. On September 27, 2024, the two planned to meet at an Alcoholics Anonymous session but instead visited a brewery and drank alcohol before taking an Uber to Allen's house in East Quogue, a community on Long Island.
Surveillance cameras at the property recorded the events starting shortly after midnight. Audio captured Allen beating Hahn for 18 minutes. Allen then dragged the bruised and semi-conscious Hahn to the rear deck and struck him with a baseball bat. He placed a plastic bag over Hahn's head, securing it with a loose knot, and sat in a lawn chair nearby, watching Hahn struggle to breathe for about eight minutes.
Allen later retrieved a knife from inside the house and stabbed Hahn in the neck 10 times. During the ordeal, Allen told Hahn, "Die. It's not so hard. Just die." Video showed Allen smiling as Hahn took his final breaths.
The next morning, Allen attempted to clean the scene and covered Hahn's body with a blanket. He called a handyman, who noticed blood throughout the home and the body on the deck. Allen initially refused to let the handyman leave, but the man persuaded him and then contacted police.
A jury convicted Allen of first-degree murder and tampering with evidence. At the sentencing on February 27, 2025, Hahn's mother addressed Allen, calling him a "piece of s—" and telling him to "rot in Hell." She added, "He always got back on his feet no matter how difficult his journey was. I miss him so much."
Assistant District Attorney Elena Tomaro read a letter from Hahn's friend Blake Cornell, who wrote that the "darkness" of the death should not "outshine his spirit." Cornell said, "He lit up every room he entered."
Allen apologized, stating, "I can't figure out what I did," and mentioned being "bipolar." This marks the first life sentence without parole in Suffolk County in nearly a decade.