Family Mourns Death of Angel Cordero in 88th Precinct’s Custody
Two weeks after Angel Cordero died of an apparent seizure at the 88th Precinct station house, his family gathered Wednesday for his wake and funeral Mass, still seeking answers and questioning whether his death could have been prevented.
“All I have told the children is that he died of a seizure,” Jenny Negron, the mother of Cordero’s 19-year-old daughter, Jasmine, and 8-year-old son, Aydin, told The Nabe at the wake at Ponce Funeral Home in Bedford-Stuyvesant. “Because again, we have no answers.”
Cordero, 39, was arrested at 3:56 a.m. on July 4 for allegedly stabbing a 48-year-old woman during an argument on the corner of Carlton and Myrtle Avenues, as we reported last week. He died on July 5 of an apparent seizure in a holding pen after waiting nearly four hours for an ambulance to arrive.
Police summoned EMS to aid Cordero, who was in need of medical attention, to the stationhouse at 1:40 a.m. on July 5, describing him as a “sick patient,” according to Frank Dwyer, an FDNY spokesman.
EMS arrived at 5:30 a.m. Friday. By that time, Cordero was already dead, Dwyer said.
The NYPD Internal Affairs office is investigating the incident, as is protocol whenever someone dies in police custody.
Donovan Mendoza, 24, Cordero’s nephew, said he believes his uncle’s death could have been prevented if the police and the Fire Department’s Emergency Medical Services got him medical attention more quickly.
“As an agency, both FDNY and NYPD, they have a moral and ethical obligation to fulfill,” Mendoza told The Nabe at the wake. ”When you have someone in your custody, it’s your obligation to make sure that person receives the type of treatment that’s fair and just. We just want to get to the bottom of what happened.”
Mendoza would not say whether the family is pursuing legal action against the FDNY or NYPD. His main concern at the moment, he said, is the lack of an explanation. He noted that the precinct only told him Cordero had died when he called on July 6 to ask about his uncle. “We don’t when, why or how,” he said.
“The family would like closure,” Mendoza added. “If that means protesting, if that means rallying, if that means setting up demonstrations to get the type of attention that’s necessary, we will go there. We’re calling for action. This is our plea for some type of action.”
About two dozen family members and friends attended the wake. His closest relatives wore lanyards with a picture of Cordero in a Yankees cap that said, “I’m from Fort Greene. Rest in peace, Angel. 3/12/74 – 7/5/13.” About a dozen more attended the funeral at St. Barbara’s Roman Catholic Church in Bushwick.
“Death is not the end of the person, but the beginning of a stage of life that will never end,” the Rev. Joseph Hoffman, said during his homily.
Family members called Cordero a “loving individual” with a “sincere personality.”
“You were Angel, always joking around, singing, dancing and making jokes,” Maribel Taylor, Cordero’s sister, wrote in a program circulated at the wake. “You left memories on our hearts for a long time and that puts a smile upon my face.”
“I love you Daddy,” Aydin wrote in the program “I miss you Daddy very much and I hope to see you again.”
