In 2014, Akai Gurley, 28, was walking down the stairs of a Brooklyn housing complex when now former New York police officer Peter Liang accidentally fired his gun in the dark night because he was startled. The bullet ricocheted and killed Gurley,
A rookie on the force, Liang’s charges were reduced from manslaughter to criminally negligent homicide, it carried up to 15 years in prison. He was sentenced to five years’ probation and 800 hours of community service. He was fired after the incident.
“Given the defendant’s background and how remorseful he is, it would not be necessary to incarcerate the defendant to have a just sentence in this case,” Brooklyn State Supreme Court Justice Danny Chun said in sentencing Liang, also 28.
Melissa Butler, Gurley’s girlfriend and a witness to the shooting told Liang “…you took a piece of me, you took a piece of my heart. Akai took his last breath and died in my hands. I’m suffering while you still have your life.”
The officers claimed they weren’t well trained to perform the essential first aid to the victim. Butler administered CPR to Gurley as a neighbor called out instructions delivered from a 911 operator on the phone. Liang and his partner watched from the sideline.
The mother of Gurley’s daughter, “‘I will never forget the words of [Mayor Bill] de Blasio when he said [Gurley] should still be alive.”
Supporters of the Gurley family are upset by the court’s decision not to hold the police accountable for this unarmed Black man’s death. While the Asian community are saying it’s unfair for Liang to be held accountable for past injustices. It’s reported Chinese-American activists even organized their own protests, claiming Liang was serving as a scapegoat for police misconduct.
Brooklyn District Attorney Kenneth Thompson cautioned that Liang’s case shouldn’t be commingled with others.
