Shoot by cop in 1989 now is homicide
A BROOKLYN man paralyzed by a cop’s bullet more than 25 years ago has succumbed to his injuries — and authorities have now ruled his death a homicide, police sources said Saturday.
Brian Evans, 46, died of kidney failure July 11, but an autopsy revealed that his health complications stemmed from the gunshot blast to the back he suffered on May 31, 1989.
An off-duty cop fired the shot during an altercation with Evans, leaving him paralyzed from the waist down, his relatives said.
Evans’ ex-wife, Theresa Johnson, said she was floored by the news that the city medical examiner’s office had ruled his death a homicide July 12.
“I just figured this out Thursday,” Johnson told the Daily News. “I literally was sobbing to myself.”
“The death certificate said homicide,” she said. “I was like, ‘Homicide? What does homicide have to do with his organs being shut down?’ ”
Details of the shooting remain scarce. Police sources said Evans was charged with attempted murder following the incident on Hull St. near Mother Gaston Blvd. in Brownsville.
Information about the outcome of the 28-year-old case was not immediately accessible, police and prosecutors said Saturday.
There is no record of Evans being incarcerated in New York State.
Johnson said Evans told her the shooting stemmed from a street fight.
“He got into an altercation, he didn’t know that (it was an off-duty cop),” she said. “He said he had an argument with somebody, he threatened the guy, and then he went to turn (when he got shot). The off-duty cop was telling him to stop.”
Cops could not immediately confirm that account.
Evans was arrested one other time — in 1999 for promoting prostitution, police said.
“I know he was a bad boy,” said Johnson, who preferred to remember her ex-husband as a gifted DJ who, despite his handicap, was the life of the party.
“He lived his life probably better than me or you,” she said. “He was outgoing, a party animal, loved to get his family together. Sharp as a tack. Sharp.”
The medical examiner notified the NYPD of its findings, but no arrests were expected, a police source said.