A Bronx judge will rule today on whether to free 18 violent inmates – including nine accused murderers – over coronavirus concerns at city jails.
Bronx Defenders filed a writ seeking their release last week.
Justice Martin Marcus held an all-day emergency hearing Monday and is now under an intense microscope after pledging to issue a ruling Wednesday.
The roster includes pastor Victor Mateo, 64, who is accused of running over his estranged wife with a car then hacking her to death with a machete in front of her two grandchildren on a Bronx street in October 2019.
He fled to Pennsylvania after the gruesome slaying and was arrested there a week later.
Mateo is especially vulnerable if he contracts the deadly virus, as he suffers from diabetes and recently underwent radiation therapy for prostate cancer and eye surgery for glaucoma, wrote attorney Ilona Coleman in pushing to put him back on city streets.
Bronx Defenders are also campaigning for the release of alleged car thief Ronnie Cole, 58, who’s accused of pressing a pistol against a police officer’s chest and snarling, “I have a gun, f-king die” when he was caught trying to swipe a BMW last year.
Coleman argued that gunshot wounds to his arm and chest that he sustained during his arrest have left him vulnerable.
“Mr. Cole’s age and health conditions put him at high risk of severe illness or death should he contract COVID-19,” Coleman wrote.
Hundreds of inmates have been released due to the pandemic.
https://www.google.com/amp/s/nypost...of-18-violent-inmates-due-to-coronavirus/amp/
Bronx Defenders filed a writ seeking their release last week.
Justice Martin Marcus held an all-day emergency hearing Monday and is now under an intense microscope after pledging to issue a ruling Wednesday.
The roster includes pastor Victor Mateo, 64, who is accused of running over his estranged wife with a car then hacking her to death with a machete in front of her two grandchildren on a Bronx street in October 2019.
He fled to Pennsylvania after the gruesome slaying and was arrested there a week later.
Mateo is especially vulnerable if he contracts the deadly virus, as he suffers from diabetes and recently underwent radiation therapy for prostate cancer and eye surgery for glaucoma, wrote attorney Ilona Coleman in pushing to put him back on city streets.
Bronx Defenders are also campaigning for the release of alleged car thief Ronnie Cole, 58, who’s accused of pressing a pistol against a police officer’s chest and snarling, “I have a gun, f-king die” when he was caught trying to swipe a BMW last year.
Coleman argued that gunshot wounds to his arm and chest that he sustained during his arrest have left him vulnerable.
“Mr. Cole’s age and health conditions put him at high risk of severe illness or death should he contract COVID-19,” Coleman wrote.
Hundreds of inmates have been released due to the pandemic.
https://www.google.com/amp/s/nypost...of-18-violent-inmates-due-to-coronavirus/amp/
