NY mom slams ‘inexperienced’ judge over plea deal for son’s teen killer — who only got 12 years
A grieving Long Island mom launched into a scathing courtroom tongue-lashing Monday at the “inexperienced” judge and “incompetent” prosecutor who cut a generous plea deal with her son’s baby-faced killer.
Erica Rimmer laid into Suffolk County Supreme Court Judge Karen Kerr during a hearing where 16-year-old convicted murderer Ramon Lyons was handed the promised sentence of 12 years in prison.
“I have learned that any judge can be politically appointed to take on a murder with intent case that is not experienced enough to fairly handle a case,” Rimmer fumed.
“Judge Kerr decided to offer a cold-blooded murderer a very generous plea deal when he has done absolutely nothing to cooperate or deserve this,” she said.
Rimmer also ripped Suffolk County Assistant District Attorney Frank Schroeder because she said he “stood there and allowed the defense attorney to negotiate another year” off of Lyons’ sentence.
In a deal Rimmer said was crafted by the judge, Lyons got three years below the maximum sentence for a juvenile offender after he pleaded guilty last month to second-degree murder in the 2021 execution-style shooting of 21-year-old Luis Cameron Rimmer-Hernandez.
The killer teen, who Rimmer said was even friends with her son’s younger brother, pulled the trigger as part of a Bloods gang initiation, according to prosecutors.
“Why did you ruin my life?” she snapped at Lyons in court. “My son never did anything to you. You took away my firstborn, my first love, my best friend.
“I knew evil existed but not to this degree,” she said. “You walk this earth with no soul, no remorse, no purpose in life. Because of you I have a life sentence of heartache and pain.”
The judge acknowledged Rimmer and her family’s “frustration with the outcome of the case” before handing down the agreed-to sentence.
“It is my hope in passing sentence that there is some measure of accountability for the profound loss you have suffered,” Kerr said.
Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney reiterated Monday that his office had recommended the maximum 15-year sentence to the judge — and defended the prosecutor who handled the case.
“The victim’s mom is upset. I understand she’s upset. I respect that,” he told The Post in an interview after the sentencing. “But we asked for the max we could under the law and were willing and able to try the case with a team of ADAs.”
Asked about Rimmer’s comments about Schroeder, Tierney said, “respectfully, I disagree.”
But the heartbroken mom said the entire system let her down.
“I put my faith in our justice system and I did not get justice,” she said in court. “I know I will never get my son back, but I truly believed my son’s life was more important than the juvenile Bloods gang member, Ramon Lyons, being offered a lesser sentence than he deserved.”
Lyons was just 14 when he walked up to the unsuspecting victim on Aug. 9, 2021, in Huntington Station and fired off at least a half-dozen shots, leaving him dead on the pavement.
Rimmer said her son had just gotten to a friend’s home with some food when his killer came up along the side of the house and opened fire without notice.
The teen went home to play video games but was soon arrested and charged with second-degree murder as a juvenile — meaning he faced up to 15 years behind bars, rather than 25 to life for an adult defendant.
Rimmer, a school paraprofessional, prayed her son’s killer would at least get the max — and said the judge “should’ve taken the deal off the table.”
She said the judge initially offered Lyons a sentence of 13-to-life, before shaving off another year, and then had coaxed the teen to take the plea.
The teen’s lawyer, Matthew Tuohy, said Monday that his client took responsibility for the heartless crime.
“He accepted responsibility in court,” Tuohy said. “He did say he was sorry. Certainly, how he says it, and how it’s laid forth he’s not going to do it in an optimal way. But he did say he was sorry and accepts responsibility.”
Before the proceedings, Rimmer stood shoulder-to-shoulder with supporters and advocates to denounce the deal at a press conference outside the courthouse.
Members of the Victims Rights Reform Council joined Rimmer outside Suffolk County Supreme Court, with several photos of the victim on display — including in his number 77 high school football jersey — and supporters wearing long-sleeve T-shirts with his image.
“What kind of society do we live in when the value of a human life is less than 15 years?” said Jennifer Harrison, who founded the victims’ rights group.
“It’s sad and it’s horrible and people need to understand what’s happening here because it’s only a matter of time before it happens to your family,” said Harrison, who began advocating for crime victims after her boyfriend, Kevin Davis, was stabbed to death outside a New Jersey nightclub in 2005 and treated with kid gloves by Garden State prosecutors.
“If I lost my child I don’t think I’d be able to survive what this woman is going through,” Harrison said. “But I know what its like to go through the system and go through the process and not receive any justice.”
