Mayor Zohran Mamdani publicly mourned an accused profession felony killer who died on Rikers Island this week — and the household of the sufferer killed within the sick, unprovoked assault is now furious, The Publish has realized.
Hizzoner mentioned on X that he was “deeply saddened” by the in-custody demise — the seventh to this point this 12 months on the troubled jail complicated — including that, “my ideas are along with his household and family members as they grieve this loss.”
The inmate was recognized as 41-year-old Clarence Woodward, an ex-con with practically 30 arrests on his rap sheet, who was discovered unresponsive in his cell shortly after 5 a.m. Tuesday whereas awaiting trial for homicide within the ugly 2024 assault at a Bronx laundromat.
To the household of sufferer Jose Miranda, the mayor’s assertion was “a slap within the face.”
“It’s horrible,” his grieving mom, Marisol Miranda, instructed The Publish on Thursday, including, “That’s not truthful. That’s not truthful in any respect.”
The Rockland Nation resident mentioned that the mayor’s sorrow was misplaced, and will have as a substitute been aimed toward her beloved son, a 45-year-old dad of two who labored as a barber when he was stabbed to demise.
“I’m not proud of what [Mamdani] did and I would like him speaking about my son. He was killed,” she mentioned.
Angel Miranda, the sufferer’s youthful brother, agreed: “That’s not proper.”
“He might have paid his regards however acknowledged us too,” Miranda, 41, famous. “He ought to have talked about us first after which, ‘Sorry the individual that did it additionally has handed away too.’
“Not less than give us slightly heads up and slightly gratuity in direction of us. We misplaced a member of the family. You may by no means change that. I’m nonetheless going by way of it,” he mentioned.
“It was a slap in the face,” Miranda added.
His mother mentioned she had been dreading Woodward’s homicide trial and having to listen to “what he did to me, what he did to my son” in open court docket.
However she mentioned that as a Christian lady, she didn’t wish to converse badly in regards to the accused killer.
“I go away every little thing in God’s fingers. He’s the one who can choose,” Marisol Miranda mentioned.
Woodward confronted life in jail if he’d been convicted of homicide, manslaughter, tried homicide, assault and weapons prices within the Aug. 8, 2024, assault at 303 Laundromat within the Claremont part of The Bronx.
He’d been out after a stint in state jail for less than a few month when police mentioned Woodward randomly attacked Miranda and one other man at round 2:40 a.m. contained in the enterprise, which was open 24/7.
The homeless parolee first stabbed Jose Miranda, who was sitting in a chair, a number of instances within the legs, torso and again, leaving him mortally wounded, police mentioned.
He then attacked the second sufferer, a 47-year-old homeless man who had been sleeping contained in the laundromat, stabbing him within the legs and torso, in line with cops.
Stunning surveillance photos confirmed the blood-splattered scene, with one man laying in a pool of blood on the ground and the second sufferer slumped over on a field whereas the suspect stood over them each.
One other picture confirmed the killer moments earlier than he plunged the knife into Miranda’s again.
Cops later discovered two meat cleavers on the stoop outdoors the enterprise, WABC-TV reported on the time.
Woodward, who was dwelling in a Brooklyn homeless shelter again then, had 29 unsealed arrests on his rap sheet, relationship again to a 2002 felony trespass bust in The Bronx, legislation enforcement sources mentioned.
His felony report additionally included 4 felony theft arrests, 5 assaults and a number of other weapons, drug possession and larceny prices, the sources mentioned.
He served a five-year jail sentence for tried theft and assault, and was launched on parole from the upstate Collins Correctional Facility on July 3, 2024 — only a month earlier than the bloody Bronx stabbings.
Woodward’s final arrests earlier than he was shipped to state jail have been a pair of assault instances in June 2019 and busts for theft, weapons possession and petty larceny in Could 2018, in line with sources.
Metropolis Division of Correction Commissioner Stanley Richards referred to as Woodward’s demise a “tragedy” that will be “completely investigated” in a press release.
“Our division mourns the lack of Clarence Woodward and we share our deepest condolences along with his household and family members,” he mentioned.
Woodward’s demise was the seventh at Rikers to this point this 12 months, in line with advocacy group Vera, which additionally mentioned 15 folks died in metropolis DOC custody final 12 months.
“We don’t but know the reason for demise, however we do know that too many New Yorkers have died on Rikers Island. The Division of Correction and its oversight companions will examine the circumstances surrounding his demise,” Mamdani added in his personal assertion.
“Our administration is totally dedicated to the vital work of making higher situations in our metropolis’s jail system and shutting Rikers Island as rapidly as attainable.”
The democratic socialist mayor has posted related statements in regards to the different inmates who’ve died in custody to this point this 12 months.
It’s not clear if he knew what Woodward had been charged with when he posted about his demise, and Metropolis Corridor didn’t reply The Publish’s questions.
Woodward’s protection legal professional and the Bronx District Legal professional’s Workplace additionally didn’t remark.
Bronx residents who spoke to The Publish on Thursday have been equally stunned by the mayor’s eulogizing of Woodward, who they mentioned was a recognized troublemaker within the neighborhood.
“Lots of people would speak dangerous about him,” Alfredo Avila, who works as a barber within the neighborhood, mentioned about Woodward, calling him “type of loopy.”
“He was all the time on medicine. He had simply come out of jail.”
In contrast, he mentioned Miranda was a pleasant man who “didn’t search for hassle with no one. He was sleeping on the laundromat as a result of he didn’t have one other place to reside.”
Herman Gonzalez, who manages the native Bronx Tremendous Store Truthful grocery store, agreed that the slain man, who was nicknamed “El Bori,” was effectively appreciated on the block — and chided Mamdani for shedding a tear for “an murderer.”
“It’s completely the other way up,” Gonzalez mentioned. “He ought to understand why that man was in jail.”
— Extra reporting by Larry Celona
