Follow-Up: Grand Jury Indicts Retired NYPD Detective Victor Romero on Second-Degree Murder in George Washington Bridge Road-Rage Killing

The Manhattan District Attorney's Office announced on October 27 that a grand jury has indicted Victor Romero, 62, a retired New York Police Department detective, on a charge of second-degree murder in the October 20 road-rage shooting of Koran Irvine, 46, a Con Edison worker, on the George Washington Bridge. The indictment upgrades the case from the first-degree manslaughter charge on which Romero was arraigned last week; second-degree murder carries a sentence of 15 years to life in prison if he is convicted.

Romero is scheduled to be arraigned on the indictment on November 23 in New York State Supreme Court in Manhattan. He was arrested on October 21 and initially charged with murder, but at his October 23 arraignment the charge was downgraded to first-degree manslaughter; he pleaded not guilty and was released after posting $1 million bail — an outcome that angered the victim's family and co-workers. A spokesman for the Manhattan District Attorney's Office said the upgraded charge followed an extensive, ongoing investigation.

On October 27, hundreds of Irvine's Con Edison co-workers and family members rallied at Foley Square in Manhattan and gathered outside the courthouse, chanting "jail, not bail." Keith White, an attorney for the Irvine family, said the family was happy that the appropriate charge had now been brought and would push for Romero's bail to be revoked. Romero's attorneys declined to comment after the October 27 court appearance.

The shooting took place at about 7:15 p.m. on October 20. Prosecutors say the two men's vehicles nearly collided during a lane change on the ramp to the bridge's New Jersey-bound upper level; surveillance video shows Romero then tailgating Irvine's vehicle before pulling alongside and firing through the rear passenger-side window, striking Irvine in the right back shoulder. Irvine, a Con Edison mechanic of 20 years, was married with two children. Romero retired from the NYPD more than 20 years ago and had been working as a driver and security guard for a hedge fund. The indictment is an allegation; Romero has not been convicted.

Source: GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)

Photo: 乔治·华盛顿大桥夜景（Mac Peters 摄，CC0，Wikimedia Commons）

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