TRAGIC: Reynaldo Cuevas, 20, was killed. (
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The NYPD calls it an accident, but the family of a bodega worker shot dead by a housing cop says it’s murder and that the Bronx DA’s Office has launched a probe into the killing.
“We believe it was murder unless it is proved any differently,” said activist Fernando Mateo, who is representing the family of Reynaldo Cuevas, the 20-year-old fatally shot early Friday after running into a cop while fleeing a stickup at his family’s shop in Morrisiana.
Cuevas’ family and their lawyer huddled with Bronx DA Robert Johnson for an hour today.
Afterward, at a press conference, Cuevas’ mother, Ana, fainted and was taken to New York Presbyterian Hospital, where she was expected to be released after treatment for high blood pressure.
Ana Cuevas “told the DA that she wants justice, that she wants to make sure the police officer who shot her son goes in front of the grand jury,” said Mateo, president of Hispanics Across America.
“She believes that her son was murdered,” he said. “She understands that the three young men that went in to rob the store are just as responsible as the police officer.”
The DA promised his office would investigate, according to Mateo.
“We basically were very satisfied with what the district attorney told us. He explained . . . he was not going to take the investigation that the Police Department generates,” Mateo siad.
911 TRANSCRIPT FROM BRONX BODEGA HOLDUP
NYPD Commissioner Ray Kelly has said Cuevas was shot when the officer’s gun accidentally discharged as they collided.
But relatives say video shows Cuevas was shot as he lay on the ground after running from the bodega and into Officer Ramysh Bangali, who had his gun drawn.
Suspects Orlando Ramos, 31, Ernesto Delgado, 28, and Christopher Dorsey, 17, were charged with murder, robbery and weapons possession and were being held without bail at Rikers.
Bangali is on administrative leave.