The inconsolable mother of a US Army veteran who was stabbed to death in a Harlem brawl went off on Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg in court Wednesday, accusing the besieged prosecutor of botching the case.
“I don’t want to hear nothing else, Yoran,” Madeline Brame screamed at prosecutor Dafna Yoran as one of the defendants in her son’s murder case got just seven years for his role in the 2018 slaying.
“Take that restorative justice bulls–t and shove it up your asses,” Brame yelled in Manhattan Supreme Court. “Not for murder.”
The courtroom outburst came as defendant Travis Stewart got the slap-on-the-wrist prison term after pleading guilty to gang assault in a deal struck with Bragg’s office.
Brame’s son, Hason Correa, 35, a vet and married father of three was beaten and stabbed to death in 2018 after getting jumped by at least four people, including Stewart, during a scuffle in Harlem. His 66-year-old father was seriously injured in the melee.
Another defendant, Mary Saunders, served about one year in jail while the case lingered in court before she pleaded guilty to assault, also as part of a plea deal, earlier this year and got no extra jail time.
Her two brothers, James and Chris Saunders, remain in jail, and will both go on trial for the murder, prosecutors have said.
Prosecutors said earlier this year that it would be difficult to make a case against Stewart and Mary Saunders.
But the slain vet’s grieving mom slammed the prosecutor on the case, accusing of her sitting “with her tail between her legs” since she was assigned to it.
Brame said if the original prosecutor on the case, who has since left Bragg’s office, were still there “all four of [the defendants] would have went to trial,” predicting that “a jury would have decided they were guilty based on the video evidence and the 33 witnesses!”
She also unloaded on defense lawyer Toni Messina.
“Bulls–t! Bulls–t! Bulls–t!” Brame yelled in court. “Take your restorative progressive justice bulls–t and shove it up your ass, Messina!”
Bragg’s office pointed out that James and Chris Saunders would still go on trial when asked for comment.
Prosecutors have said that while the 34-year-old Stewart had been involved in the fight, he wasn’t part of the brawl when James Saunders allegedly took out a knife and stabbed Correa nine times.
Yoran also said during Mary Saunders’ hearing earlier this year that prosecutors “do not believe that we can prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Mary Saunders knew that her brother had a knife, or that she shared the intent to kill Hason Correa.”
In a scathing letter to Bragg and Gov. Kathy Hochul earlier this month, Brame slammed the DA for not consulting her before cutting the plea deals with Stewart and Mary Saunders.
“You violated my rights as a crime victim to be fully informed and to be heard,” the grieving mother wrote. “Why would you dismiss murder charges against half of the participants when the murder and their roles were caught on video?”
In court Wednesday, Brame’s pain continued to surge to the surface.
“In the four years that I sat through this I never missed a court date,” she said. “I never once saw one ounce of remorse from Mr. Stewart. I saw smiles, waving, blowing kisses like he’s a rock star. Not one drop!
“He took everything from us when he took my son. He took my grandchildren’s father.”
