Family of Win Rozario Outraged by Attorney General Letitia James’ Refusal to Indict Officers Who Killed Teen

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

MEDIA CONTACTS

Tess Weiner, tess@justicecommittee.org, 224-213-5495

Akash Singh, akash@drumnyc.org, 347-901-2815

Family of Win Rozario Outraged by Attorney General Letitia James’ Refusal to Indict Officers Who Killed Teen 

Family of slain Bangladeshi teen calls on NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch to do better than the Attorney General by firing Officers Alongi and Cianfrocco

New York, NY - In response to news that New York State Attorney General Letitia James has chosen not to seek indictments of NYPD Officers Salvatore Alongi and Mathew Cianfrocco for killing 19-year-old Win Rozario in his home in front of his mother and younger brother, Notan Eva Costa, Francis Rozario, and Utsho Rozario - Win’s mother, father, and brother - issued the following statement:

“State Attorney General Letitia James’ cowardly decision not to indict NYPD Officers Matthew Cianfrocco and Salvatore Alongi for murdering our beloved son and brother, Win Rozario, feels like we’re watching Win get murdered all over again. We were safe in our home until Officers Cianfrocco and Alongi walked in and created chaos. The NYPD should not be engaging with people experiencing a mental health episode. Officers Cianfrocco and Alongi used derogatory language, cursed at us, barked orders, then tased and shot Win at least five times in under two minutes, all while we begged them to stop. It is a miracle we weren’t also killed by Cianfrocco and Alongi’s recklessness.

Shame on Attorney General James. We are working-class New Yorkers who have to work to survive, and we took off work to meet with the AG’s Office last night only to learn that they are doing absolutely nothing to bring justice for Win. First, AG James keeps us in the dark, refusing to provide our family with an update for at least a year and a half. Then AG James has her staff tell us her decision and hand us a report of their investigation that is inconsistent with what we witnessed and the body worn camera footage and is biased toward the cops.

The AG’s Office may claim they are not supporting Officers Cianfrocco and Alongi, but then why aren’t they indicting them? The Civilian Complaint Review Board (CCRB) charged Cianfrocco and Alongi for unjustly tasing and shooting Win. They are scheduling a discipline trial while AG James does nothing. 

We miss Win every day. He was only a 19-year-old kid – he had his whole life ahead of him. Every day without him is unbearable, and now we must live with the fact that the cops who murdered him will face no criminal consequences. If any one of us had done what Officers Cianfrocco and Alongi did, we would have been fired and jailed. While AG James is not willing to fight for Win, we will not stop fighting for our boy. We call on the CCRB to schedule the discipline trial. We call on Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch to fire Officers Alongi and Cianfrocco, and on Mayor-Elect Mamdani to remove the NYPD from mental health response. While it will not bring Win back, New Yorkers deserve better.”

Other Quotes

“Attorney General James’ decision not to indict officers Matthew Cianfrocco and Salvatore Alongi for murdering Win Rozario and her office’s appalling treatment of the Rozario family during their almost two-year investigation is unfortunately not surprising based on the office’s pattern of refusing to indict cops and keeping families like the Win’s family in the dark,” said Loyda Colón (they/them), Executive Director of the Justice Committee. “The body-worn camera footage of Win’s murder - released by the AG’s Office - is a damning depiction of recklessness and excessive force. Win should have been met by care, not cops. This was an execution, Cianfrocco and Alongi should have been fired and prosecuted long ago. We stand with Win’s family in calling on the CCRB to schedule the discipline trial for Officers Alongi and Cianfrocco and for Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch to fire Alongi and Cianfrocco without delay. Anything less would further endanger New Yorkers.”

"The Attorney General’s Office of Special investigation report clearly is biased towards officers Alongi and Cianfrocco,” said Simran Thind, Organizer with Desis Rising Up and Moving (DRUM). “The implication that the AG’s office found nothing prosecutable in the actions of two NYPD officers who shot Win Rozario five times is outrageous. Shame on Attorney General Letitia James for lacking the courage and willingness to use the law to prosecute NYPD officers Alongi and Cianfrocco and stand up for everyday New Yorkers. If NYPD officers can violate the law, violate NYPD Patrol guidelines, resulting in a death, and still have no consequences, then why even bother with a charade of accountability? This approach to NYPD officers has fueled the sort of reckless behavior which resulted in Win's murder. The AG's decision today is yet another kick to the Rozario family and all those who have lost loved ones to police violence. From the NYPD, to the Mayor, to now the AG.”

---

BACKGROUND

On March 27, 2024, teenager Win Rozario was killed in front of his mother and younger brother in his family’s Ozone Park apartment by NYPD Officers Salvatore Alongi and Matthew Cianfrocco. Officers Alongi and Cianfrocco recklessly shot Win at least five times in less than two minutes of entering the apartment, as his mother pleaded for the officers not to shoot. Alongi & Cianfrocco violated numerous NYPD protocols, including when they tased Win without warning while he was standing still with nothing in his hands, chaotically escalating the crisis that they had created without properly taking steps to de-escalate in spite of sufficient time to do so, and shooting Win while his mother and younger brother were nearby, endangering their lives.  

Immediately following the shooting, NYPD officers interrogated Win’s mother and brother at the precinct without counsel, blocking them from accompanying Win to the hospital. NYPD officers blocked re-entry to the Rozario family’s home for more than two days, refusing the family’s requests to retrieve belongings, access medications, or even to have someone feed their cat.

For over a month after Win Rozario was killed, the NYPD withheld the officers’ names and refused transparency. Mayor Adams’ first and only public statements regarding the killing were issued only after the Attorney General released body camera footage, over five weeks after Win was killed. He falsely claimed to have contacted the family, and reported that discipline would have to wait until after the Attorney General’s investigation concluded with a determination, which has never been accurate.

For the past year and a half, Win Rozario’s family, along with the Justice Committee, Desis Rising Up & Moving and others, have called for the NYPD to fire – and for the NYS Attorney General to prosecute – NYPD officers Alongi and Cianfrocco. Win’s family is also calling for police to be removed from the city’s mental health response. Win Rozario’s mother wrote about the year since Win was killed and the NYPD’s mistreatment of her family in a March 2025 Daily News Op-Ed. 

On September 12, the Civilian Complaint Review Board (CCRB) substantiated eight misconduct charges  against officers Alongi and Cianfrocco, including excessive force and abuse of authority, and filed “charges and specifications,” the highest class of discipline against officers. The NYPD was pushed to serve the charges within the week, and a department trial is pending.

The NYPD’s Force Investigation Division (FID) was required to investigate the killing, but the family has received no information or updates from Mayor Adams or the NYPD about their mandated investigation since Win was killed in March of 2024. 

###

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. 

About Desis Rising Up and Moving:

DRUM - Desis Rising Up and Moving is a multigenerational, membership led organization of low-wage South Asian and Indo-Caribbean immigrants, workers and youth in New York City. Founded in 2000, DRUM has mobilized and built the leadership of thousands of low-income, South Asian and Indo-Caribbean immigrants to lead social and policy change that impacts their own lives- from immigrant rights to education reform, racial justice, and worker’s justice.  Our membership of over 5,000 adults, youth, and families is multigenerational and represents the diaspora of the South Asian communities – Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Guyana, India, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Suriname, Trinidad & Tobago, and beyond.  In over a decade, we have built a unique model of South Asian and Indo-Caribbean undocumented workers, women, and youth led organizing for rights and justice from the local to the global rooted in base building, leadership development, running short and long term campaigns to reform policies on all levels, strong cross-community alliances locally and nationally, and building democratic and mass participatory spaces.