Man accused of killing Huntington Station teen Maggie Rosales pleads not guilty

HUNTINGTON STATION, N.Y. (WABC) -- The man accused of stabbing a teenager to death on Long Island pleaded not guilty Thursday.

Adam Saalfield, 21, of Huntington Station, is charged with murder in the second degree in the October attack of Maggie Rosales near her home in Huntington Station.

Rosales, 18, was found stabbed to death on Lynch Street, a few blocks from her house on Oct. 12.

"It's a sad moment, but thank God they got this animal," said Cesar Rosales, the victim's father, at the time of Saalfield's arrest.

According to his defense attorney, Saalfield and the victim did not know each other.

John LoTurco, Saalfield's defense attorney, said that his client "proclaims his innocence."

"We will thoroughly examine the evidence and will provide Adam with the most vigorous and zealous defense possible," he said.

Saalfield's attorney asked that he be released on bail, but the judge denied the request.

Prosecutors said Saalfield sneaked up behind Rosales as she was walking near Depot Road in Huntington station that night. She was listening to music, and prosecutors said Saalfield put a knife to her throat, dragged her behind a car and sliced her throat twice.

Most people who live in Huntington Station have been affected by a string of stabbings and shootings recently. Residents are fed up with a spate of deadly violence and rallied last week.

"I think the young people don't deserve this," Cesar Rosales said last week of the violence in the area. "We deserve more safety on the streets in this town."

In just the past four months, there have been four unsolved homicides in Huntington Station.

"We have to have answers," resident James McGoldrick said. "We have to have patrols. There are no patrols in this neighborhood. People are putting in cameras, alarm systems. Elderly people are afraid to live here."

Suffolk County Police said they are actively investigating all the homicides, and have put additional patrols, some undercover, in the neighborhoods. The residents aren't sure if that's enough.

"It's just straight up gang activity," said Alan Dakin, a former resident. "Some of the elderly neighbors I've known for years are actually really scared because they can't defend themselves."

More than 500 people attended the rally last Tuesday, which began by the tennis courts on the Sabbath Day Path side of Heckscher Park. They then walked in unity to the Town Hall board meeting, and asked for the security they say Huntington Station needs to make it a safe place for all the children in the community.

"There's a total breakdown between the community and the police department," McGoldrick said. "People actually have the feeling that they don't care about us."