Widow Speaks For First Time After Shooting Death Of Cuomo Aide
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- Six months after an aide to Gov. Andrew Cuomo was shot to death during a pre-Carnival celebration known as J'ouvert, the victim's grieving widow spoke out for the first time.
Police on Tuesday also released four pictures of people wanted for questioning.
"It should not be too hard for the community to rally around helping us contact these people to see if they can move the celebration down the line," Police Commissioner Bill Bratton said.
On Sept. 7, 43-year-old Carey Gabay was gunned down in the street during festivities leading up to the West Indian Day Parade. He was walking with his brother near the Brooklyn parade route at 3:40 a.m. when he was shot. He died on Sept. 15.
The individuals sought by police have been described as three black males, between 25 and 30-years-old, and a woman with light skin between 18 and 20-years-old.
"We believe they are residents of the neighborhood, we don't believe they came in from another area, so that should help us," Bratton said.
Gabay, a Harvard-educated lawyer, served as first deputy general counsel at the Empire State Development Corp.
As CBS2's Jessica Schneider reported, Gabay's widow held back tears as she spoke out.
"My husband was in the midst of this very celebration of our heritage and never made it home due to the gang and gun violence," Gabay's widow Trenelle said.
As 1010 WINS' Al Jones reported, J'ouvert celebrates and end to slavery and Mrs. Gabay said it's too important to cancel.
Community leaders have been meeting for months to discuss how to make the annual celebration safer.
"One of the significant criticism of this event is that it has proceeded for most of the time without a permit, whereas most events of this scale have a permit," Bratton said.
Commissioner Bratton said there will be changes made to the celebration including requiring permits for the Crown Heights parade, better lighting, and more cops.
"The common denominator of this parade is how do we permit a celebratory atmosphere that will not be hijacked by violence?" Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams said.
A $22,500 reward has been offered with $2,500 coming from Crime Stoppers for an arrest and indictment, $10,000 from the NYPD for arrest and conviction, and $10,000 from the mayor's office for arrest and conviction.
Anyone with information regarding this incident has been asked to contact the NYPD's Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477) or for Spanish 1-888-57-PISTA(74782). The Public can also submit tips by logging onto the Crime Stoppers website at www.nypdcrimestoppers.com or by texting their tips to 274637 (CRIMES) and entering TIP577.