MEDIA CONTACT:
Eliel Cruz, press@justicecommittee.org
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 7, 2023
In response to the ruling by Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice Danny Chun to unseal the records from NYPD Officer Wayne Isaacs’ criminal trial for the murder of Delrawn Small, the Justice Committee released the following statement from Victoria Davis and Victor Dempsey, siblings of Delrawn Small:
“Our family has been fighting for NYPD Officer Wayne Isaacs to be prosecuted and fired for murdering our brother for almost seven years. The CCRB substantiated fireable charges against Officer Issacs two years ago. Every step of the way, we’ve met with roadblocks and obstructions by those in power, and we have overcome them. Judge Chun dragging his feet on the CCRB’s unsealing motion for over a year is just the latest example of this. On Friday, Judge Chun made the right decision to unseal the records from Officer Isaacs’ criminal trial, but it should not have taken months of us going to the media and New Yorkers calling his office to demand he make a decision. Now, the CCRB must act swiftly to review the trial records and schedule the administrative trial for Officer Isaacs, and Mayor Adams, and Commissioner Sewell must ensure he is finally fired for killing Delrawn. As long as Officer Isaacs remains employed by the NYPD, he is a threat to public safety. We cannot wait any longer.”
BACKGROUND:
On July 4, 2016 Officer Wayne Isaacs shot and killed Delrawn Small in front of his four-month-old son, step-daughter and girlfriend. Isaacs had been driving erratically down Atlantic Ave and had cut Mr. Small’s car off several times. When Mr. Small approached Officer Isaacs’ car, Isaacs - who was off duty at the time - rolled down his window, shot Mr. Small three times and then left him to bleed out in the street without offering any aid, all in plain view of Mr. Small’s family. Mr. Small was 37-years-old and unarmed.
Isaacs was charged and prosecuted for murder by the NYS Attorney General’s Office in the first and only case the office took to trial after Governor Cuomo's 2015 executive order and the state legislature’s 2020 law authorizing the AG to investigate police killings. The Civilian Complaint Review Board (CCRB) substantiated fireable misconduct charges against Officer Isaacs two years ago. In January 2022, the New York State Supreme Court Judge Verna L. Saunders dismissed NYPD Officer Wayne’s Isaacs’ Article 78 lawsuit, the police union’s baseless attempt to block his long-delayed discipline trial. The Civilian Complaint Review Board filed a motion to unseal the criminal trial records, but has been waiting on Judge Danny Chun to rule on it for over a year.
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About the Justice Committee:
Since the 1980s, the Justice Committee (JC) has been dedicated to building a movement against police violence and systemic racism in New York City. The heart of our work is organizing and uplifting the leadership of families who have lost loved ones to the police and survivors of police violence. We empower our community to deter police violence, hold law enforcement accountable, and build people-led community safety through grassroots organizing campaigns, community empowerment, political education, our CopWatch program, and by developing safety mechanisms and projects that decrease reliance on police. By building solidarity with other anti-racist, immigrant and people of color-led organizations, the Justice Committee seeks to contribute to a broad-based movement for racial, social, and economic justice.