SHOCK AT SLAY SUSP RELEASE
Kin of dad of 4 shot dead in Washington Hts. outraged
Family and loved ones of a young father killed in a November confrontation in Washington Heights are furious the suspected gunman has been released on bail.
Edward Sosa was charged with possession of a weapon after fatally shooting Jorge Martinez, 25, about 1:40 a.m. Nov. 26 at W. 177th St. and Wadsworth Ave.
Sosa, 34, was initially hit with a murder charge when he was arrested Thursday but that charge was later dropped by prosecutors.
The wording of the criminal complaint suggests Sosa may have acted in self-defense — opening fire after Martinez “brandished” his own weapon first.
Sosa’s release haunts Aslyn Taveras, 23, the mother of Martinez’s 6-year-old daughter.
“Why would they let him go?” she asked. “It makes no sense. He killed a person, not an animal. I don’t understand how things work, but that is insane.”
At Sosa’s arraignment Friday in Manhattan Criminal Court, bail was set at $25,000 cash or $50,000 bond. Correction Department data showed that Sosa — who has served three stints in state prison since 2007 for weapon possession and drug dealing — made bail.
A man who answered the door at the suspect’s Harlem apartment Sunday said Sosa was not immediately available to comment.
The criminal complaint lays out the deadly chain of events.
“Martinez brandished a firearm and the defendant [Sosa] then pointed a pistol at Martinez and fired one round, striking Martinez in the chest,” the complaint states. “Surveillance video collected from the vicinity several minutes prior to the shooting captured images of the defendant’s face.”
Taveras said Martinez “was a really good father.”
“I could call him for anything, and he was always there,” she said.
According to Taveras, one of Martinez’s friends had called him and he left to meet with him — but was instead confronted by Sosa and another man.
“They came out of nowhere,” she said. The victim had three daughters and a son, with a fifth child on the way — and worked with his uncle doing wholesale truck deliveries for markets.
“I have no idea why anyone would do this to my nephew,” the uncle, Henry Encarnacion, said.