In an emotional and powerful testimony during a remote House Judiciary Committee hearing, Madeline Brame, the mother of a murder victim, slammed Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg for his failure to bring justice to her son’s killers. The hearing took place at the Jacob Javits Federal Building, near Bragg’s office, and aimed to spotlight his perceived shortcomings in prosecuting violent criminals.
It’s worth noting that Bragg’s office recently charged former President Donald Trump with 34 felony counts of “falsifying business records,” a move that many have criticized as a politically motivated fulfillment of a campaign promise. Critics argue that the resources allocated to this case could have been better spent on addressing New York City’s growing crime problem.
Brame’s heart-wrenching story gave a human face to the city’s crime statistics. Her son, retired Army Sgt. Hason Correa, was brutally beaten and stabbed to death by a group of people in Harlem in October 2018. Although four individuals were eventually charged with the crime, Brame expressed her frustration with Bragg’s leniency toward two of the defendants.
She told the room that Bragg inherited a “strong, trial-ready murder case and gang assault case” but allowed it to “immediately begin to unravel.” Brame detailed how Bragg dismissed gang assault and murder indictments against two defendants, despite their involvement in her son’s savage murder.
While two of Correa’s killers are serving 20 years to life sentences, the other two received far lighter sentences. One was sentenced to time served and is already out of prison, and the other will be released within two years. Brame passionately questioned how such leniency could be justified when it poses a clear threat to public safety.
Her brave testimony earned a round of applause from those present at the hearing, as she became the face of New York’s forgotten victims under a district attorney seemingly unwilling to take a hard line against violent offenders. Brame’s grief and demand for justice highlight the urgent need for a fair and effective criminal justice system that puts the safety of citizens first, rather than focusing on politically motivated prosecutions.
