Slain mom’s kid a ‘pawn’ in cash fight
A NASTY CUSTODY battle has erupted over a 2-year-old girl whose mother was beaten to death in Brooklyn after the NYPD failed to properly answer a 911 call.
Tonie Wells, 22, was strangled and thrown down a flight of stairs by her husband, Barry Wells, on Dec. 28, according to police. It soon emerged that her death in Crown Heights may have been prevented — two officers responding to her 911 call left the scene without even getting out of their patrol car an hour before Wells was killed. The cops were suspended.
Now, a wrongful death claim filed on behalf of Wells’ daughter, Charlie, could yield millions — and her father, Randy McNair, and grandmother Elizabeth (Ellie) Rivera are dueling over who will get custody.
Both sides have filed notices of claim in anticipation of a lawsuit against the city for Wells’ wrongful death. McNair, 25, says the suit could be worth as much as $20 million. Rivera, 45, says it could be worth $26 million. McNair and Rivera have filed competing lawsuits in Manhattan Supreme Court seeking access to the city’s records on the 911 call. They are also battling in Family Court.
Rivera said McNair and his mother were using Charlie as “a pawn” to get money.
“It doesn’t make sense. Why come for this little girl now that Tonie is dead? It’s not like Charlie knows who they are,” Rivera said.
“They’re coming for money signs.”
McNair said he was heartbroken by the murder and that he loves his daughter.
“I’m the father,” the maintenance worker said. Rivera, McNair said, “treated me like I murdered her daughter. She treated me like I did something wrong.”
McNair’s lawyer, Marvin Fuhrman, acknowledged his client has not had as much of a presence in the child’s life as McNair would have liked. But he said that was in part due to Wells pursuing other relationships.
“He’s always sought to establish himself as the father, and she obviously got married and it complicates things,” Fuhrman said.
McNair established paternity through a DNA test in February 2017. He is still seeking to get the child’s birth certificate changed because Wells thought another man was the dad, Fuhrman said.
McNair has also been arrested nine times, including for criminal possession of a controlled substance, police said. He was most recently busted Feb. 9 on a charge of resisting arrest. That case is pending, and four of the arrests are sealed. The dad told The News he has no criminal record.
“We will leave it to the court to determine the significance of Mr. McNair undergoing a paternity test a year before the tragic incident,” Rivera’s attorney, Jeff Korek, said, adding that McNair had made an “attempt to involve himself in this case.”
The Administration for Children’s Services has placed the child with an aunt, Katherine Rivera. Elizabeth Rivera said McNair had missed a visit with Charlie because “It was cold.”
McNair is due to visit the child next week.
“Tonie would want with me,” he said. Charlie