In a first-of-its-kind case, a Bronx judge has ordered DNA testing of a dead man — a former bodyguard to rapper Busta Rhymes — to determine whether a boy born four months after his murder is his biological son.
Bronx Surrogate Lee Holzman ordered that testing go forward on samples from the body of 35-year-old Jermaine Williams, setting aside the normal requirement that the boy’s mother, Sandy Martinez, first demonstrate that Williams treated him like a son while he was alive.
“What this decision does, the judge is basically telling the lawmen up in Albany that we must make some laws that make it easier for children to prove that a certain man is their father, dead or not,” said Martinez’s lawyer, Oshrie Zak. “It’s time to get out of the age of the dinosaurs.”
Williams, who last served as muscle for Busta Rhymes about nine years ago, was found shot to death and wrapped in a blanket on May 28, 2008, inside his truck in Ozone Park, Queens.
At the time, Martinez was roughly mid-term with the child she now claims is the son of Williams.
In the decision, dated Dec. 3, Holzman noted that it would be impossible for Martinez to show the deceased father acknowledged the child as a son or daughter while he was alive — since Williams was dead by the time the child was born.
Martinez’s attempts to get a share of Williams’ estate are being opposed by the dead man’s brother, who represents the interests of two of Williams’ other sons, both by different women.
“In my opinion, the other side didn’t prove their case,” the brother’s lawyer, Marcel Florestal, said. “It is an unusual decision and I will discuss with my client whether to appeal.”
Lawyer and estate-law expert Phil Bernstein said that while the judge might have ignored the letter of the law, it was a case where making an exception made much more sense — especially because of the availability of the tissue sample.
“The judge did what he should have done to help an innocent child,” said Bernstein. “It’s a totally logical decision.”