{"id":353398,"date":"2026-09-22T10:52:08","date_gmt":"2026-09-22T10:52:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/353398\/"},"modified":"2026-09-22T10:52:08","modified_gmt":"2026-09-22T10:52:08","slug":"mom-of-boy-killed-in-nyc-gunfire-endorses-letitia-james-ag-opponent-saritha-komatireddy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/353398\/","title":{"rendered":"Mom of boy killed in NYC gunfire endorses Letitia James’ AG opponent Saritha Komatireddy"},"content":{"rendered":"

A grieving Bronx mom whose<\/a> 12-year-old son was killed by a stray bullet blasted state Attorney General Letitia James for her obsession with \u201cnational politics\u201d as she endorsed her Republican opponent.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Migdalia Martinez appears in a powerful new ad backing challenger Saritha Komatireddy<\/a> for AG and talking about her son Jacob Freytes, who was killed outside a bodega in July.<\/p>\n

\u201cFour teenagers were shot in the Bronx in one week, and they said it\u2019s the safest summer on record,\u201d Martinez said says, before looking directly into the camera and pointing to a necklace with a picture of son.<\/p>\n

Migdalia Martinez and her son Jacob Freytes. The 12-year-old had biked to a Bronx bodega to buy a ball when he was gunned down. Provided by family<\/p>\n

Migdalia Martinez endorses Republican Saritha Komatireddy in a powerful new ad. Saritha Komatireddy for New York\/YouTube<\/p>\n

\u201cThis here is my son, Jacob. He was shot and killed riding his bike to buy a ball. Letitia James has time for national politics, just not for the Bronx,\u201d Martinez said of the Democratic incumbent.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not political, and neither is Saritha. When I met her, I heard somebody who wants change. Saritha is the only person I\u2019ll vote for.\u201d<\/p>\n

The ad also shows an image of James with socialist Mayor Zohran Mamdani.<\/p>\n

Career criminal William Ferrer was charged in the July 25 stray-bullet killing <\/a>of Jacob Freytes, who was caught in the crossfire outside a Mount Eden bodega.<\/p>\n

Ferrer, who has at least a half-dozen prior arrests <\/a>dating back to 1999, is accused of opening fire during a street dispute outside Wanda Deli Grocery on Elliott Place near the Grand Concourse.<\/p>\n

Jacob \u2014 also the son of retired NYPD Detective<\/a> Sgt. Jesus Freytes \u2014 had biked to the store to buy a ball when gunfire erupted, police said.<\/p>\n

New York Attorney General candidate Saritha Komatireddy speaks to neighborhood parents and residents at the Gertrude Ederle Playground on the Upper West Side of Manhattan on Aug. 15, 2026. Robert Miller for NY Post<\/p>\n

Ferrer pleaded not guilty during a court appearance last week.<\/p>\n

Komatireddy, a former federal prosecutor and mother of four, met Martinez shortly after the slaying and brought her to see President Trump at an event on Long Island last month. Trump embraced her<\/a> and vowed to get tougher on crime at the pro-policing event.<\/p>\n

\u201cFamilies like Migdalia\u2019s have paid an unbearable price while New York\u2019s leaders have failed to make public safety the priority it should be. Letitia James has had almost eight years in office and the resources of a statewide law enforcement agency, yet she is failing these families,\u201d Komatireddy said in a statement to The Post.<\/p>\n

James has failed the Bronx since she took office in 2019, her opponent said.<\/p>\n

\u201cNew Yorkers are tired of excuses, tired of being told this is normal, and tired of leaders who look the other way while innocent people pay the price,\u201d Komatireddy said. \u201cMigdalia deserves better. Jacob deserved better. Every family in New York deserves better.\u201d<\/p>\n

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani with state Attorney General Letitia James at City Hall on Sept. 14, 2026. Lev Radin\/Shutterstock<\/p>\n

The six-figure, 30-second spot is appearing on Cable TV, streaming and digital sites.<\/p>\n

As a federal prosecutor in Brooklyn\u2019s Eastern District of New York, Komatireddy handled some of the most high-profile cases involving international terrorism, cybercrime, narcotics trafficking, money laundering, and public corruption.<\/p>\n

James, who is seeking a third term, is heavily favored to win re-election.<\/p>\n

She\u2019s made national headlines for personally prosecuting Trump and his namesake company<\/a> and suing to block Trump administration policies.<\/p>\n

James also commissioned a sexual misconduct probe of ex-Gov. Andrew Cuomo<\/a> and fellow Democrat that triggered his resignation even as he denied any wrongdoing.<\/p>\n

Freytes, the son of a retired NYPD detective, was struck and killed by a stray bullet near his Bronx home on July 25.<\/p>\n

On her campaign website, she boasts of suing the Trump Administration \u201cmore than 50 times to protect New Yorkers\u2019 rights and funding for critical programs like healthcare, public education and good-paying jobs.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Democratic incumbent said her AG\u2019s office has taken over 9,500 guns off New York\u2019s streets and worked to stop the spread of ghost guns. <\/p>\n

She also claimed to have secured more than $9 billion from individuals and corporations who abused New Yorkers, including more than $3 billion from opioid manufacturers and distributors for their roles in the deadly opioid epidemic and more than $70 million in settlements from neglectful nursing homes<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A grieving Bronx mom whose 12-year-old son was killed by a stray bullet blasted state Attorney General Letitia…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":353399,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[38],"tags":[80,393,128,153,416,68,398,57,46937,9,24,63,129,131,130,58],"class_list":["post-353398","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-the-bronx","tag-andrew-cuomo","tag-attorney-general","tag-bronx","tag-donald-trump","tag-elections","tag-exclusive","tag-letitia-james","tag-metro","tag-midterm-elections-2026","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-nyc","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\/353398","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=353398"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/353398\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/353399"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=353398"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=353398"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=353398"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}