‘TOY’ PAIN VERY REAL

22 yrs. after son killed by officer, folks see no change

NEARLY TWO decades before 12-yearold Tamir Rice was gunned down by police while holding a toy gun, there was Nicholas Heyward Jr.

On Sept. 27, 1994, Nicholas was playing “cops and robbers” with his friends at the Gowanus Houses in Brooklyn. He was 13 and holding a plastic toy rifle. Playtime ended in a tragedy when a cop holding a very real gun shot the teen in a stairwell just after 7 p.m.

Nicholas fought for his life at St. Vincent’s Hospital in Manhattan, but died about eight hours later.

Officials said the boy pointed the toy gun at Officer Brian George, who was patrolling the building at 423 Baltic St. The kids Nicholas was playing with insisted the teen had dropped the toy before the shooting. The Brooklyn DA’s Office, under Charles Hynes, ruled the boy’s death an accident and the housing cop was never charged.

The lack of an arrest enrages his parents nearly 22 years later.

“At the time this happened, no one could have told me this officer would not be held accountable,” Nicholas Heyward Sr., 59, told the Daily News.

On Wednesday, relatives and supporters marched from a Wyckoff St. park named for Nicholas to the downtown Brooklyn office of DA Kenneth Thompson. They demanded during the annual Walk of Remembrance for Nicholas that authorities reopen the case and pursue criminal charges against George.

The boy’s father still lives in the same apartment the family called home at the Gowanus Houses in 1994. To the visitor’s eye, not much has changed. Photos of the smiling teen grace the walls. His yellowed school assignments are still kept neatly in a folder. The walls are covered with posters highlighting the stories of unarmed young people killed by police officers around the country.

“All of these victims were unarmed and innocent,” the dad said, pointing to one of the large posters of people shot and killed by police officers. “For this system to allow these officers to not be held accountable — I constantly ask myself what kind of system do we live under?”

Among the faces plastered on the wall at the apartment is that of Tamir, who was shot to death by police on Nov. 22, 2014 in Cleveland. Cops responding to a 911 call about a person pointing a gun at people in a park fired within seconds of arriving at the scene.

Tamir’s family filed a lawsuit and settled for $6 million. The two cops involved weren’t charged.

“There would be no Tamir Rice if they had held George accountable,” Nicholas Heyward Sr. said. “This only happens in poor minority communities. They don’t do the same policing practices in white neighborhoods.”

His ex-wife, Angela Grant Heyward, who ran up 14 flights of stairs to try to comfort her wounded son, told The News that every new police killing of an unarmed black man or boy dredges up painful memories.

“I’ve been angry a lot,” she said. “What’s been happening all over the country, it’s been going on 22 years since we lost Nicholas and nothing has changed. Nothing has gotten better. It’s gotten worse. And I say something’s gotta change.”

After Nicholas’ death, his father left his job as a mail carrier and focused his energy on telling his son’s story. A civil lawsuit filed in 1995 against George and the city Housing Authority was settled in 1998 but failed to bring the family the closure they were seeking.

Over the years, Heyward has lobbied elected officials and worked with community activists to get the case reopened.

He met with Thompson while he was battling Hynes on the campaign trail. Thompson’s victory over Hynes gave Heyward hope his son’s case would be reopened.

Thompson’s office is reviewing the case but the statute of limitations has all but eliminated the possibility of bringing any charges other than murder.

“The statute of limitations should not apply,” Heyward insisted.

He claims the original investigation was botched, and inconsistencies in George’s statements were never explored.

Hynes’ lawyer Sean Haran said the former district attorney was not available to comment on Heyward’s claims.

“In reopening this case last year, our office has and will continue to work closely with Mr. Heyward to complete a thorough and fair investigation,” a spokesman for Thompson said.

George retired in November. Officials said he received a disability pension for an injury he received on the job but did not provide any further detail. George did not re-