Exclusive | Mom of 12-year-old killed by stray bullet in The Bronx says NYC has only gotten safer for criminals
The anguished mother of the 12-year-old boy killed by a stray bullet outside a Bronx bodega said the city has gotten more dangerous as criminals no longer fear consequences — and her son’s murder is just the latest example.“Criminals feel more safe now than ever,” Migdalia Martinez, 47, told The Post just days after the senseless killing of her son, Jacob Freytes, whose father is a retired NYPD cop.Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch sent 200 more cops to patrol the borough this spring in an effort to reverse a troubling uptrend of violent crime, which has stubbornly persisted despite steady improvements in Manhattan, Queens, Brooklyn and Staten Island.But Martinez believes the problem lies with the courts, which she says are “holding the hand” of criminals after cops risk their lives getting them off the streets.“There’s no more doing time for misdemeanors.There’s no bail … People are just walking free with the possibilities,” she said.“The system works more for the criminal than they’re gonna work for the victim.”Career criminal William Ferrer, 45, was arraigned Sunday night on murder, assault and weapons charges after police said he opened fire during a fight in the South Bronx, killing Freytes and wounding two others.The son of retired NYPD Det.
Sgt.Jesus Freytes was “struck in the chest” during the Saturday evening burst of gun violence, and later died at a Bronx hospital, according to the criminal complaint.Martinez was too overcome with grief to speak to reporters during a vigil for her son outside the family’s apartment building on Monday, but now she’s speaking out in the hopes her family’s tragic story will spark some much-needed change.“The city’s making it easier for the criminal.
It’s too much.Criminals aren’t scared anymore, the laws aren’t tough anymore,” she said Wednesday.“The city took too many laws away.
They took the stop-and-frisk.If there’s a group of a whole bunch of people, I don’t see...