BRONX MOTHER CHARGED WITH INCITING TO RIOT AND MAKING
FALSE STATEMENTS TO POLICE IN CONNECTION WITH MELEE THAT LEFT
ONE OF HER SONS ‘BRAIN DEAD’

Bronx District Attorney Robert T. Johnson announced today that a woman, who had
claimed to be a victim in a bloody altercation last Spring, has been arrested and charged with
instigating the fight.

A grand jury has charged Evelyn Cruz, of 200 West Kingsbridge Road, the Bronx, with
Inciting to Riot and Making False Statements to Police in connection with an altercation and
fight involving Cruz, unidentified accomplices aligned with her, and students from the Mount
St. Michael Academy. Both crimes are Class A Misdemeanor offenses punishable by a maximum
penalty of up to one year in jail.

The incident occurred on May 5, 2006 beneath the elevated Woodlawn train station on
the IRT #4 Line in the vicinity of Bainbridge and Jerome Avenues. Following the fight, charges
initially were filed against two of the students one of whom had been stabbed. The grand jury
however, based on information that came to light during the continuing investigation, dismissed
all charges against the two students and charged Evelyn Cruz instead. It is alleged that Cruz
orchestrated the confrontation because she believed that her 15 year old son, a sophomore at
Mount St. Michael Academy, was being bullied by fellow students. Cruz allegedly set into
motion a chain of events which resulted in serious injuries to her older son, Eric Acevedo, 23,
while a 16 year old student sustained a single stab wound in his back. Acevedo suffered severe
head trauma resulting in permanent brain damage when the injured student struck him with a tree
limb after being stabbed. Although Acevedo was identified as being involved in the fight, he was
not identified as the individual who had stabbed the student.

Cruz, who surrendered to detectives, was released without bail after pleading not guilty
before State Supreme Court Justice John Byrne.

Assistant District Attorney Georgia D. Barker is prosecuting the case.