Li’l Thomas’ slay leads to reforms
Reuben Alexander was just 16 when a bullet tore into his armpit outside a Brooklyn apartment building.
His shooting, and the arrest of his shooter, barely registered a blip on the public consciousness in 2012, but it turned his family’s life upside down. And late last year, it finally killed him.
Alexander died in a rehabilitation facility on Dec. 29, 2019. He was 24. Last month, his death was ruled a homicide from complications caused by his bullet wound, police said.
His cousin, Devon Anthony, told the Daily News that Alexander has been brain dead for years.
“I was very scared to go see him because I couldn’t see him like that. It was breaking my heart to have to see him not moving. He had no life in him,” Anthony told The News. “And then I had to see him eventually because I had to go to his funeral and it was super sad.”
Alexander’s shooter,
Shakeem Jones, is in prison on an 11-to-13-year sentence, which surprised his cousin. “He only got 11 years,” Anthony, 28, said in disbelief when told about the prison term.
Anthony said he looked for news accounts about his cousin’s shooting, and about what happened to Jones, but came up empty.
“Don’t they reopen the case?” he asked. “I hope they will give this guy a harsher sentence. What — like, 10 years? It’s nothing for taking someone’s life.”
Alexander, who lived in Crown Heights, was hanging out with friends outside a building on Lott St. on Feb. 5, 2012 — the day the Giants won the Super Bowl, Anthony recalled. Just before 11:40 p.m., Jones came up to the group and started shooting, police said. One bullet hit Alexander through the armpit, cops said. He ran into a nearby apartment building and collapsed.
“I tried talking around to people. I don’t know exactly what happened. Some people at first were saying it was gang violence,” Anthony said. “But then I heard it wasn’t. He was, like, in the wrong place at the wrong time.”
Alexander recovered from the shooting at first, but a few weeks later, he took a turn for the worse.
“Something went wrong. I don’t know if he was released too early, but he ended up going back,” Anthony said. “He became brain dead.”
Jones, who was arrested on attempted murder charges, was also accused of attacking a correction officer in 2014. He took a plea deal in 2015, and won’t see a parole hearing until 2022. His earliest possible release date is in April 2023.
A spokesman for the Brooklyn DA’s office wouldn’t say if prosecutors are pursuing upgraded charges. Legally, a new prosecution is possible under New York State’s “delayed death” exception to double jeopardy laws.
Anthony described his cousin as a curious teen who sometimes got into trouble, but nothing out of the ordinary for a “normal Brooklyn kid.”
“I’m a little older, so, me and my other cousins would go out to parties. He wanted to leave the house and come by behind us, and stay up late with us,” Anthony said. “He always wanted to be a little older than he actually was.”
He didn’t know if Alexander was fighting with a rival, or if he was part of a gang, but didn’t rule it out.
“You know… poverty,” Anthony said.
Alexander grew up with both parents, who immigrated from Trinidad. His father returned to his native country, leaving Anthony and his mother in Brooklyn. They attended J’Ouvert and Labor Day celebrations, as a family tradition, Anthony said.
He and Anthony spent summers at a relative’s house upstate, “where things are just less chaotic,” Anthony said.
“He was just really like your little bad cousin that you love, but you know is a little curious, but sometimes curious for the wrong things,” he said.
A sweeping set of child protecreforms tion were announced in Suffolk County Wednesday aimed at correcting missteps that contributed to the tragic death of 8-year-old Thomas Valva.
Six new bills — two of which were exclusively reported by the Daily News on Tuesday — will enhance oversight for child welfare workers, like the ones who handled nearly two dozen abuse allegations involving Thomas and his brothers.
The autistic boy’s NYPD cop father, Michael Valva and his fiancée, Angela Pollina were charged in Thomas’ cruel and abusive death on Jan. 17, but Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone said there was plenty of blame to go around.
“This system is just not set up to effectively protect kids on the autism spectrum or other kids with developmental disabilities,” Bellone said. “What happened to Thomas Valva can never happen again.”
Valva, 40, and Pollina, 42, were charged with murder for allegedly leaving Thomas to freeze to death in an unheated garage overnight as temperatures dipped below 20 degrees.
Prosecutors said the callous cop and his fiancée coldly discussed his dying son’s condition, and never called for help after the boy fell on the frigid garage floor at their Center Moriches home.
Over the course of two years, at least 20 child abuse or neglect complaints were lodged against Valva by his estranged wife and educators at East Moriches school, where Thomas and his brothers Anthony, 10, and 6year-old Andrew were students.
Denied food at home, the boys were perpetually hungry at school and losing weight, officials said.
Thomas’ death led Bellone to impanel a task force to review all Child Protective Services policies and procedures as they relate to children with autism and other developmental disabilities.
The six pieces of proposed legislation would create a specialized CPS team for autistic and developmentally disabled kids, mandate new training, and increase scrutiny for cases reported by certain school districts.