Join Mr. Heyward and the Committee for Nicholas Heyward Jr. outside of the Department of Investigations as he demands that the Brooklyn DA’s Office be investigated for their conduct in the re-investigation of the Nicholas Heyward Jr. case.
***Media advisory for tomorrow’s press conference with Mr. Heyward***
For Immediate Release
Father of Boy Killed By Police Demands Dept. of Investigation Probe Brooklyn DA’s Office
WHAT: Press conference
WHO: Nicholas Heyward Sr., the Committee for Nicholas Heyward Jr. and supporters
WHERE: In front of DOI office, 80 Maiden Lane
WHEN: Thursday, February 23rd at 12:15pm
New York City- The father of Nicholas Heyward Jr., a 13-year old shot to death by a police in 1994, will file a complaint and deliver a letter to the city’s Department of Investigation. Mr. Heyward is demanding that the DOI investigate the Brooklyn District Attorney’s Office handling of the Heyward case. Last year, the Brooklyn DA publicly announced that he had re-opened the investigation. However, their ‘re-investigation’ was a political stunt, further marred by political corruption, and essentially was a copy-and-paste of disgraced DA Charles Hynes’ cover up from 1994, Mr. Heyward says. Importantly, contrary to his statements to Mr. Heyward, Ken Thompson either did not investigate a possible cover-up by his predecessor, or he never publicly reported on the findings of such an investigation.
The Department of Investigations has broad investigative power to examine official misconduct and corruption. Mr. Heyward will demand the DOI look into the role of office prosecutors, some who worked on the first botched investigation during Hynes era, and examine the process, which Mr. Heyward believes was a never a serious examination of the facts. Multiple members of the Thompson Administration made statements to Mr. Heyward during the ‘re-investigation’ that reflected political determinations playing a role in the case, which is contrary to the obligations of the District Attorney’s office.
The Brooklyn DA’s Office denied Mr. Heyward a copy of its final report from the 2016 investigation and has forced him, outrageously, to make a Freedom of Information request to get information about the examination into his son’s murder. Key passages in the report he received are heavily redacted, and Mr. Heyward believes the DA’s Office is covering up what was a sham investigation.
