Harlem Park Murder Trial Features Gardener Voyeur as Migrant Shelter Killing Trial Looms

Harlem Park Murder Trial Features Gardener Voyeur as Migrant Shelter Killing Trial Looms by Matthew & Russell Lee, Patreon Substack SDNY COURTHOUSE, Aug 31 – A murder three summers ago in Harlem's Riverbank State Park is the subject of a trial in 111 Centre Street this week.   On Monday, witnesses included a Park Police officer who described finding the victim's body after hearing shots, and administering CPR. On cross, the defense noted his lack of memory on what he did with the victim's shirt (and knife), and his having left the shell casing at the scene.    Next up was the emergency room doctor from Mt. Sinai Morningside, who painstakingly gave the spelling of her Dutch college upon request. She testified that the victim had no pulse or heartbeat and at 7:16 she pronounced him dead. On cross, the defense delved deeper into the defendant's clothing until objections were sustained.     A gardener, a Harlem transplant, took the stand. She said she heard shots then saw a man with a "shiny object." For some reason she took photos of the victim's body. But she couldn't, or didn't, identify anyone in the photo array. From Inner City Press live tweets: Defense lawyer: You said the individuals was slender and lean and with a pony tail?  Gardener: I don't remember the pony tail.  Defense lawyer: You didn't see him shoot anybody, right, only holding this silver object?  Gardener: Correct     Next witness is a paramedic at NY Presbyterian Hospital ADA: Where were you trained? Witness: SUNY Westchester, as EMT - Paramedic.  ADA: What was the call on July 1, 2023? Paramedic: Gunshot wound. We arrived 6:52 pm. We saw State Park Police providing CPR  Paramedic: He was not breathing. There was not a heart rate. He was a young man, Hispanic. No shocks were given - there was no muscular activity in the heart. Flat line.  ADA: You provided bandages?  Paramedic: Yes. Four gunshot wounds. We went to Mount Sinai     Thus the trial day ended. On the other side of the seventh floor, in Justice Rachel S. Pauley's youth part, a defendant born in 2009 and charged with strangulation had her case transferred across Collect Pond Park to the Family Court. Still, she was in handcuffs in the hallway despite being listed as RoR.    Five stories up, Justice Hanshaft spent the day working to pick a jury for the murder of Dafren Canizalez in a migrant shelter on Randall's Island. He told prospective jurors not to visit the scene of the crime, noting that "the subway doesn't go there." But there is a walkway over the Harlem River...  *** Your support means a lot. As little as $5 a month helps keep us going and grants you access to exclusive bonus material on our Patreon page. Click here to become a patron. Feedback: Editorial [at] innercitypress.com Mail: Box 130222, Chinatown Station, NY NY 10013 Other, earlier Inner City Press are listed here, and some are available in the ProQuest service, and now on Lexis-Nexis.  Copyright 2006-2026 Inner City Press, Inc. To request reprint or other permission, e-contact Editorial [at] innercitypress.com