Bronx prosecutors yesterday asked a judge to drop charges against five people convicted in the murder of a cabdriver 18 years ago after new evidence indicated they were innocent.
Guilty verdicts “must be vacated” in the convictions of Devon Ayers, Michael Cosme, and Carlos Perez for the January 1995 slaying of cabby Baithe Diop in Soundview, DA Robert Johnson’s office said in court papers.
Two other suspects in the case — Eric Glisson and Cathy Watkins — were freed from prison in October after having their convictions suspended while the DA reinvestigated the case.
Charges will be formally dropped against Glisson and Watkins at a hearing next Thursday, the DA’s Office said. Ayers, Cosme and Perez will have their hearing Wednesday.
Johnson’s office reversed course on the Diop killing after investigators spoke with two former members of the “Sex, Money, Murder” gang, Gilbert Vega and José Rodriguez — and eventually became convinced they were the real killers.
In a separate federal investigation, Vega admitted in 2003 that he and Rodriguez shot a cabdriver in The Bronx during a robbery in late 1994 or early 1995.
But Vega and Rodriguez could not name their victim, or even say for sure he had died.
They pleaded guilty to federal robbery charges in the case, and have already completed their sentences. They can’t be charged again in the Diop case, and both now live out of state.
It wasn’t until last year that a federal investigator finally linked their admission to Diop’s slaying.
Days before Thanksgiving, Vega and Rodriguez spoke again about the case to two Bronx assistant district attorneys.
“Everyone has realized that the murders were committed by Vega and Rodriguez. They were very cooperative, and it was clear that they did it themselves,” said Peter Cross, who represented Glisson.
Glisson, 37, and Watkins, 44, are now in the clear, and are getting on with their post-prison lives. Cross praised Johnson for “doing the right thing” in their case.
Ayers, 36, Cosme, 37, and Perez, 43, are still serving time for their alleged roles in the slaying of Denise Raymond, a FedEx exec murdered in her Soundview apartment two days before Diop’s slaying.
But in yesterday’s court filing, the DA’s Office agreed to the suspects’ request for a new hearing in the Raymond case, holding out the prospect they might be cleared in that killing as well.
The trio’s lawyers say police withheld key evidence in Raymond’s killing, and that new evidence shows the slaying was carried out by Raymond’s ex-boyfriend.