Murder suspect held without bail in gruesome killing, burning of gay Brooklyn teen

The accused killer of a gay Brooklyn teen slain with a bullet to the head before his corpse was set ablaze was ordered held without bail Friday for the gruesome February murder.

Defendant Isiah Baez, 19, stood with his head down during a brief court hearing where he was ordered jailed while awaiting trial for the killing of Deandre Matthews. Baez was charged in the murder following his arrest on an unrelated incident.

“I’m happy there was no bail,” said Danielle Matthews, the heartbroken mother of the 19-year-old victim. “I hope he rots in jail. I feel that justice has been served.”

Baez was charged with murder, criminal possession of a weapon, concealment of a corpse and tampering with physical evidence in the killing. Deandre Matthews’ family believes he was targeted for the killing over his sexual orientation.

“It was a senseless murder,” said the dead teen’s grandmother Jacquelyn Smallwood, one of several relatives at the hearing.

Prosecutors said in court papers that witnesses recounted Baez stating “in sum and substance that (he) shot and killed Deandre Matthews” in the 4 a.m. slaying on February 7.

Brooklyn Assistant DA Aaron Gauthier called for the defendant’s imprisonment, detailing how the charred remains of the victim were found by a freight train operator next to train tracks.

A jacket was duct-taped around Matthews’ head in an effort to hide the gunshot wound, he said.

“The defendant and the decedent (Matthews) were acquainted for at least one year,” said Gauthier. “The decedent borrowed his mother’s car, went out for the evening of February 6, and never returned home.”

Danielle Matthews filed a missing persons report when her son failed to return home, and used a tracking device to locate her burned-out SUV in Crown Heights, several miles from the site where the corpse was discovered.

The suspect’s mother told the Daily News she was skeptical Matthews’ sexual orientation had anything to do with the killing, and added that their family includes some gay people.

The NYPD has yet to announce a motive in the grisly homicide.

Defense attorney Edward Mandery of Brooklyn Defender Services unsuccessfully asked for bail rather than jail for his client.

“He has no criminal record to speak of,” said Mandery, noting several of Baez’s relatives attended the hearing.

The defendant lives in Flatlands, roughly a half-mile away from the railbed where Matthews’ charred remains were discovered.

An accused co-conspirator, Remy McPrecia, 24, was arrested March 4 on charges of concealment of a corpse and tampering with physical evidence for his part in the torching of the body.

Matthews’ family offered little sympathy for Baez.

“I hope he suffers,” said the victim’s aunt Tamika Mathews, 29. “I hope his family suffers.”