The mother of the Staten Island teen who was chased to death by a crew of white and Hispanic teenagers is urging police officers to hold the group accountable for the attack.
“He never knew these boys a day in his life,” Tisha Richardson said. “He was a sweet kid … [and] he wasn’t a gang member.”
Richardson said McKenzie didn’t like running. The only running her son did was during a leisure game of basketball.
Three weeks ago, Dayshen McKenzie, 16, suffered a fatal asthma attack while fleeing a mob of teenagers, who were allegedly waving a gun and shouting racial slurs at him.
During a press conference last Friday, however, NYPD Chief of Detectives Robert Boyce said there was no evidence of bias found in the teen’s death.
“He died of a pre-existing medical condition,” Boyce said. “There is no evidence nor do we have any witnesses to indicate that he was assaulted. Our investigation has determined that this stems from a possible gang-related dispute.”
According to Boyce, a pre-planned fight was supposed to occur that afternoon.
Richardson said her son received a phone call from a friend and rushed to resolve a conflict with a group of boys that was possibly over a girl.
The New York Daily News reported that Diane Fatigati, the Staten Island cop who gave Mckenzie CPR and tried to save his life, and one of the seven Black youths involved said the N-word was used during the chase.
Boyce denounced this statement and said some witnesses were not close enough to the incident to make that judgment.
Richardson said police officers have depicted her son as a criminal in the mainstream media.
“He had a heart of gold,” she said. “Had them boys not have chased him, he would have been here. Their parents can kiss them, love them and hug them [but] my son is dead.”
Meanwhile, McKenzie’s mother is unsatisfied with the information regarding her son’s death.
“The police officers let him down,” Richardson said.”How can the officers not tell me anything,”
Civil rights activist and founder of the National Action Network, the Rev. Al Sharpton said this incident is similar to the 1986 case of Michael Griffith, who was struck by a car while fleeing a group of white teenagers.
“I read with horror what happened to Staten Island teen Dayshen McKenzie,” Sharpton said in a statement sent to the AmNews. “We cannot in confidence rely on the DA’s office to pursue this matter to the degree the community feels will bring justice to the family of Dayshen McKenzie.”
During NAN’s live rally and radio broadcast last weekend, Sharpton called for the federal government to investigate this incident as a possible hate crime.
Since the press conference on June 3, Richardson has not received updates on the investigation.
“There’s a lot of questions that need answers,” she said. “When are you [the officers] going to say these kids will be charged with what happened to my son.”