CRIME
Abel Cedeno Found Guilty on All Counts
Bullied gay teen convicted of manslaughter, assault in Bronx classroom brawl
BY ANDY HUMM
Abel Cedeno, the gay teen
who used a knife to defend
himself from a
Bronx classroom attack
in September 2017— killing one
classmate and slashing another
— was pronounced guilty of manslaughter,
assault, and weapons
possession Monday by Judge Michael
A. Gross in a bench trial,
which the defendant chose over a
jury trial. The case attracted a lot
of press attention because it was
the fi rst killing in a New York City
school in 40 years — and it involved
a bullied gay student fi ghting
back.
The top charges of fi rst-degree
manslaughter and fi rst-degree assault
carry sentences of fi ve to 25
years each — but only one and a
third to four years if Cedeno, who
was 18 at the time of the crime,
is granted youthful offender status
given that he has no previous
criminal record.
Gross rejected a defense request
that their client continue to be allowed
out on bail before sentencing
on September 10 and remanded
him to Rikers Island. Impassive
throughout the proceedings, Cedeno
was led out in handcuffs. His
mother, Luz Hernandez, collapsed
in tears and was escorted out of
the court by her daughters.
Outside the courtroom, the
family and friends of Matthew Mc-
Cree, the 15-year old killed in the
fi ght, shouted, “Justice for Matthew!”
Louna Dennis, his mother,
said, “I am gratifi ed. I fi nally got
justice for my son.”
Dennis is suing the city and
Cedeno for $25 million as is the
mother of Ariane LaBoy, who was
slashed repeatedly by Cedeno.
Dennis’ attorney, Sanford Rubenstein,
said he opposed youthful offender
status for Cedeno.
Rubenstein told Gay City News,
“This is a tragedy for all the families
that must not be repeated. It
is due to the failure of the Department
of Education DOE to enforce
the Dignity for All Students
Act,” or DASA, the state anti-bullying
Abel Cedeno (left), convicted Monday of manslaughter and assault, last week in a Bronx courtroom
with his attorneys Robert J. Feldman and Christopher R. Lynn.
law for schools.
Cedeno testifi ed that he had
been bullied since the sixth
grade and that school authorities
would not confront his bullies or
grant him the transfer to a safer
school that he and his mother
had sought. The Urban Assembly
School for Wildlife Conservation
where the incident occurred was
closed shortly after the deadly
2017 incident when school offi -
cials fi nally acknowledged that it
had descended into chaos.
Rubenstein also said metal detectors
— that would have detected
Cedeno’s knife — were requested
by the principal, but the DOE
turned her down.
Out gay attorney Tom Shanahan,
who is suing the city on behalf
of the Cedeno family — also
over the failure to enforce DASA —
said, “I feel like I am in a Shakespearean
tragedy. There are no
winners. Ms. Dennis lost her son
and Abel’s mom has lost her son
in some respects, as well.”
Shanahan said of Cedeno, “This
young man is not a danger to anyone
and never was. To think of the
taxpayers paying to incarcerate a
victim like Abel is mind-boggling.”
Judge Gross was as impassive
today as he was listening to the
ANDY HUMM
ANDY HUMM
Luz Hernandez, Cedeno’s mother, being helped
out of the courtroom after collapsing in tears
upon hearing the judge’s verdict.
testimony of 19 prosecution witnesses
and of Cedeno. He did not
explain his decision — any more
than a jury would have to.
Shanahan said, “The judge
seems to be trying to send a message
that under no circumstances
may a student bring a weapon to
school. I understand that. I also
know there are hundreds if not
thousands of Abel Cedenos who
are being bullied in communities
like Abel’s. What are these kids
to do? The message is: no matter
what, don’t defend yourself. What
is the alternative? Drop out?”
Indeed, Cedeno was repeating
the 12th grade because he had
missed so much school due to bullying.
He was relentlessly taunted
as a “faggot” and “bitch,” he had
testifi ed — in some cases, just for
having long hair. He was not made
aware of alternatives available to
him as a gay student, such as the
Harvey Milk School.
Gross had warned Cedeno and
his defense counsels , Christopher
R. Lynn and Robert J. Feldman,
at the start of the trial that he
faced fi ve to 25 years on each of
the top counts and that they could
run consecutively if they did not
accept a plea deal of 10 years being
offered by prosecutors Nancy
Borko and Paul A. Andersen.
Lynn responded, “He’ll get that
anyway if he is found guilty,” and
rejected the deal.
Gross gagged the attorneys in
the case after a day or two of the
trial.
Lynn, devastated by the verdict,
said, “If anyone is to blame, it’s
me. When the case began, things
only got better for the defense.
We didn’t have the nine-second
cellphone video of the fi ght until
the end of January 2018. We now
know the DA had possession of
the video from Day One because a
couple of witnesses mentioned it in
police reports. Witness statements
from the two teachers in the room
made it clear that the kids who attacked
Abel came from the back of
the classroom to the front and attacked
him. Teacher Paul Jacoby
said, ‘Matthew pushed me aside,
hell-bent on getting at Abel.’ Student
friend of McCree’s, Frankie
Santiago, said the knife didn’t
come out until Matthew pushed
Jacoby to the wall.”
But most all of the evidence
of the bullying Cedeno had been
subjected to and the long records
of fi ghting and other school violence
on the part of the victims
that Cedeno claimed to be aware
➤ ABEL CEDENO CONVICTED, continued on p.5
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