MORRISANIA — After months of awaiting justice on her son's shooting death by a police officer responding to a crime, Ana Cuevas finally received word on Friday, according to a news report.
Bronx District Attorney Robert Johnson would not be requesting a grand jury to determine whether Reynaldo Cuevas's death was a crime committed by the on-duty officer, who had responded to a bodega robbery with his weapon drawn, the NY Daily News reported Saturday.
"I feel bad," Ana Cuevas told the Daily News. "I don’t think they want to give my son any justice."
Officer Ramysh Bangali, who fired at Cuevas Sept. 7, mistaking him for one of the men who robbed the Aneurys Deli Grocery, a Franklin Avenue bodega where 20-year-old Cuevas worked, will no longer face criminal proceedings in a court of law with this determination.
"An extensive review turned up no evidence that anyone other than those who have already been indicted are criminally responsible for the death of Mr. Cuevas, therefore there will be no further presentation to the grand jury,” Bronx district attorney spokesman Steven Reed told the paper.
The Bronx DA's office did not return calls immediately on Saturday afternoon.
Cuevas had just concluded a night shift at the bodega where he worked at 2 a.m. on Friday, Sept. 7, when three armed robbers burst in, pushing him and his manager to the floor, police said. When officers arrived, the robbers panicked and fled.
Cuevas also bolted, colliding with Bangali, leading to the fatal accident, police said.
The three robbers were arrested and charged in the incident, and also face murder charges in Cuevas's death — Christopher Dorsey, 17, Orlando Ramos, 32, and Ernesto Delgado, 28.
According to the newspaper, the police department will further review the incident, and determine if Bangali, a 7-year veteran who had never before discharged his weapon, violated department rules regarding use of deadly force.
