A Supreme Court Judge set a Bronx gang member free Tuesday and dismissed the indictment against him over the fatal shooting of a 21-year-old man last year.
Steven Mendez, 17, is out of jail again after his arrest over the murder of Saikou Koma in Fordham Heights; Koma’s distraught mom was watching the court proceeding on video when she burst into tears.
“When I hear the judge say, ‘Release him’ to be honest, I had to stand up. I could not believe it. I said out loud, ‘What! Release him?!”
“The judge believes my son’s life means nothing. This is why they will keep killing because they know there are no consequences.”
The devastated mom said that the assistant district attorney sent her the link to watch the hearing and insisted the suspect should get life behind bars.
“If not that, he was trying to get the maximum sentence. But then the judge, just let him free that minute.”
Since 2017, Mendez had been in and out of prison at least three times including for assaulting his own mother and pulling a gun on her, and shooting a man during a robbery.
