According to a source, a court freed from prison a New York City teenager blamed of shooting and murdering a guy in a case of mistaken identification last year.
The Bronx District Attorney’s office, Bronx Supreme Court Justice Naita Semaj-Williams dropped the charge against Steven Mendez, 17, who reportedly shot Saikou Koma, 21, in the head in a gang-related altercation after Mendez mistook Koma for another guy. The ruling was made without explanation by the judge.
Mendez was previously freed on five years’ probation in May of last year after pleading guilty to a burglary in 2020 for which prosecutors wanted the maximum punishment of four years in jail.
In that instance, a victim was shot in the leg. Mendez was arrested and accused as a “youthful offender.” A court official stated at the time that then-Bronx Supreme Court Justice Denis Boyle did not believe a jail term was suitable for a “crime committed as an associate at the age of 16,” referring to the equipped burglary accusation.
After remotely viewing the proceedings Koma’s mother, Haja Kaira, expressed that when she heard the court say, ‘Release him,’ she knew she was in trouble. She honestly felt she had to get up. It was impossible for her to believe. ‘What! Release him?!’ she exclaimed. She continued that the court feels her son’s life is meaningless. This is why they will continue to kill since they realize there will be no repercussions.
Mendez is also accused of slapping his mom and keeping her at gunpoint when she refused to pay him cash.
