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Suspect Won't be Charged in Street Fight Death After DA Foul-Up

By Eddie Small | April 12, 2017 5:47pm
 The 2016 death of 53-year-old Angel Rivera has been deemed a homicide, police said.
The 2016 death of 53-year-old Angel Rivera has been deemed a homicide, police said.
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Shutterstock/Katrina Brown

CLAREMONT — The man authorities believe responsible for causing a man's death by striking him, which led him to hit his head on the ground, will not be charged with manslaughter after the Bronx District Attorney's office blew the initial case against him.

Angel Rivera, 53, had been knocked unconscious at 964 E. 167th St. on July 20, 2014 after falling to the ground and hitting his head during a fight with Luis Medina, also 53 years old, one day earlier, according to the NYPD.

EMS took Rivera to Lincoln Hospital in critical condition, and he remained in a medically induced coma until Aug. 16, 2016, when he died from his injuries, police said.

Rivera's death was deemed a homicide on Tuesday, nearly three years later, according to police.

Medical Examiner's office spokeswoman Julie Bolcer declined to comment on why it had taken eight months to determine Rivera's manner of death but said that, in general, cases requiring additional study can involve complicated medical tests and investigative information.

Medina was arrested for assaulting Rivera in 2014, but the case against him was dismissed because prosecutors took to long to bring the case to trial.

He will not be arrested again because it would be considered double jeopardy, according to police and The Bronx District Attorney's Office.