Trinidad father who spent two years behind bars awaiting trial for double shooting is declared innocent by court
After spending two years behind bars awaiting trial for a murder and assault case he did not commit, a Trinidad father walked out of a Bronx courtroom a free man. Virgil Mitchell, 34, was awaiting trial in a double shooting case that occurred on June 25, 2017, at Hunts Point near an annual Caribbean music festival known as Moksha, according to the New York Daily News. While one victim, Atiba Ramsey, 34, was killed in the shooting, another, Kenda Verwayne, then 34, was injured.
When he was arrested in August 2017, he was working for National Grid as a utility worker for almost a decade and had no prior criminal record. He is reportedly in the process of trying to get his old job back.
The charges against him were thrown out by Justice James McCarty after the Bronx District Attorney’s office recommended his release, following an investigation by Mitchell’s lawyers Murray Richman and Valerie Casali in May. He told the publication that he could not wait to get back to his family and child, who he hasn't seen since he has been awaiting trial. "I want to get back on with my life and just pick up back where I left off,” he said. “And move forward.”
He was at Riker's Island during the time and he said that although the stay caused "some psychological damage", he said he would “not to let it defeat me.” He added that he wouldn't wish what he went through on anybody. The money he spent fighting the case was "basically my whole life savings" he said.
Mitchell was arrested after an anonymous tip through Crime Stoppers and was identified by a witness in a lineup. The tip said that the shooter had been "heavyset" and about 6 foot 2. However, Mitchell is 5 foot 9 and weighed considerably less than the description of 240 pounds, standing at 180, the police records reportedly said. The case against him was thin and the prosecutors said in a dismissal memo that there was "sufficient proof to support the position that the defendant is not the shooter."
The DA's report said, "Virgil Mitchell’s physical attributes differ markedly from the description provided by witnesses. It is difficult to imagine how Mitchell could have gotten a gun into the festival such that he could have access to it later in the day given the tight security …"
Mitchell's lawyers said that a different suspect had been identified through a palm print but a spokeswoman for the Bronx DA did not confirm the statement.