On the eve of a key development in the case of the fatal shooting of a 7-month-old girl in Brooklyn, the borough’s top prosecutor spoke with News 12’s senior reporter Tara Rosenblum in an exclusive interview – the only one-on-one since the tragedy.<\/p>\n
Kaori Patterson-Moore was killed by a stray bullet in broad daylight – just days before Easter.<\/p>\n
District Attorney Eric Gonzalez described to News 12 the emotional visit he made to the baby’s family in their darkest moment.<\/p>\n
“When I went to the hospital…to see the anguish on that family…is something I will never forget. I will never forget it,” he said. “You go home and you hug your kids extra hard,” he says.<\/p>\n
Gonzalez says the incident wasn’t just another gun violence case.<\/p>\n
“I grew up in that neighborhood…The shooting took place only blocks from where I grew up as a child. So, I was devastated by it,” he said.<\/p>\n
The night he visited the family in the hospital, he says he promised them that there would be justice.<\/p>\n
That promise is moving forward as the accused shooter is already in custody, and on Tuesday, the second suspect is expected to be extradited back to New York from Pennsylvania.<\/p>\n
“The evidence is very strong, and…I’m very confident that a jury, when they get this case in the future, will find justice for this family,” he says.<\/p>\n
The fatal shooting comes as Brooklyn recorded its lowest levels of shootings in history.<\/p>\n
Gonzalez says this case is a reminder that the work is far from over.<\/p>\n
“This is a case that we will remember for a long time, and I hope that…it’s a catalyst for the city to make sure that more and more resources are not just spent on the prosecution of cases, which is what I do, but on the prevention of violent crime,” he says. <\/p>\n
Investigators believe 7-month-old Kaori was not the intended target.<\/p>\n
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