{"id":311144,"date":"2026-07-31T21:48:41","date_gmt":"2026-07-31T21:48:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/311144\/"},"modified":"2026-07-31T21:48:41","modified_gmt":"2026-07-31T21:48:41","slug":"coward-career-criminal-charged-with-killing-retired-nypd-cops-son-12-dodges-victims-family-in-court","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/311144\/","title":{"rendered":"Coward career criminal charged with killing retired NYPD cop’s son, 12, dodges victim’s family in court"},"content":{"rendered":"

The career criminal charged with killing an innocent 12-year-old son of a retired NYPD cop<\/a> in the Bronx was too much of a coward to face the victim\u2019s family, who packed the courtroom Friday for the routine hearing.<\/p>\n

William Ferrer, 45, was a no-show<\/a> in Bronx Criminal Court \u2014 just days after he was slapped with a slew of serious charges, including second-degree murder, for allegedly killing 12-year-old Jacob Freytes and wounding two others last Saturday in the Mount Eden section of the Bronx.<\/p>\n

Ferrer, who was brought to the courthouse by the Department of Corrections, had his appearance waived last minute by his attorney Raymond Gazer as both Freytes\u2019 mom and dad, along with other family members, sat inside the courtroom to face their son\u2019s alleged killer.<\/p>\n

William Ferrer, 45, who was charged with killing 12-year-old Jacob Freytes, the son of a retired NYPD officer, was a no-show in Bronx Criminal Court days after he was slapped with a series of charges for his role in the murder. Kyle Mazza\/Shutterstock<\/p>\n

Freytes, the son of retired NYPD Det. Sgt. Jesus Freytes<\/a>, was caught in the crossfire during the afternoon gunfire outside Wanda Deli Grocery \u2014 where he was struck in the chest by a bullet and died later at a Bronx hospital, prosecutors have said.<\/p>\n

Freytes\u2019 anguished mother, Migdalia Martinez, told The Post in an exclusive interview <\/a>that she fears her son\u2019s murder is just the latest example of crime on the rise throughout the city.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe system works more for the criminal than they\u2019re gonna work for the victim,\u201d Martinez said in the fiery interview, while criticizing lawmakers for making the city a playground for criminals.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe city\u2019s making it easier for the criminal. It\u2019s too much. Criminals aren\u2019t scared anymore, the laws aren\u2019t tough anymore,\u201d she said Wednesday.<\/p>\n

According to law-enforcement sources, Ferrer \u2014 who has a half dozen previous arrests<\/a> \u2014\u00a0was trying to settle some beef for his brother with the other men when he opened fire, striking Freytes.<\/p>\n

Ferrer was charged with second-degree murder, attempted murder, manslaughter, assault and criminal possession of a weapon after he allegedly fatally wounded Freytes while also injuring two others in the Mount Eden section of the Bronx. James Keivom for NY Post<\/p>\n

Two men were also hit during the shooting, one in the buttocks and one in the foot, according to the criminal complaint.<\/p>\n

Freytes was struck after biking over to the bodega to buy a ball, prosecutors have said.<\/p>\n

Heartbreaking security footage showed<\/a> the poor boy watching the fight before a man pulled out a gun and started shooting, at which point Freytes is seen clutching his chest and running back into the bodega.<\/p>\n

The career criminal will remain at Rikers Island until his next court appearance on Sept. 17 and, if convicted on the top charge, could spend the rest of his life behind bars. James Keivom for NY Post<\/p>\n

In court Friday, prosecutors said they were in the process of presenting the case to a grand jury to secure an indictment on murder and other charges.<\/p>\n

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Bronx Criminal Court judge Joseph Sorrentino ordered the brute to remain remanded on Rikers Island until his next court appearance on Sept. 17.<\/p>\n

Ferrer is charged with murder, attempted murder, manslaughter, assault and criminal possession of a weapon in connection with the shooting.<\/p>\n

He faces up to life in prison if convicted on the top charge.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The career criminal charged with killing an innocent 12-year-old son of a retired NYPD cop in the Bronx…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":311145,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[38],"tags":[128,419,57,238,9,24,63,3980,129,131,130,58],"class_list":["post-311144","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-the-bronx","tag-bronx","tag-courts","tag-metro","tag-murders","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-nyc","tag-shootings","tag-the-bronx","tag-the-bronx-headlines","tag-the-bronx-news","tag-us-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/311144","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=311144"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/311144\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/311145"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=311144"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=311144"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=311144"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}