BRONX MOTHER CONVICTED OF 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 Bronx woman has been convicted of starting a brawl that left one of her young sons ‘brain dead’.

Evelyn Cruz, of 200 West Kingsbridge Road, pled guilty to one count of Inciting to Riot and one count of Making False Statements to Police. Both charges are Class A Misdemeanor offenses punishable by a maximum sentence of up to one year in jail on each count. State Supreme Court Justice Robert Torres set sentencing for Monday, October 15, 2007 in Part T 1.

Cruz pled guilty in connection with an altercation and fight involving herself, unidentified accomplices aligned with her, and students from Mount St. Michael Academy. 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. 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.

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