After 3rd body found in Brooklyn's Newtown Creek, mother seeks answers
NEW YORK — A mother in Brooklyn is desperately seeking answers after her son's body was found in a branch of the East River. He is the third person found dead there after leaving nearby nightclubs in the past year.
Damani Alexander's body washed up in Newtown Creek by East Williamsburg in July. The 30-year-old was last seen at Knockdown Center, a nightclub nearby.
Alexander is the third person in the past year found dead in Newtown Creek after a night out. The bodies of John Castic and Karl Clemente turned up there about a month apart in 2023. Both men were last seen at the Brooklyn Mirage nightclub nearby.
Police are still investigating Alexander's death and waiting on the medical examiner to determine the cause. The ME ruled the other two deaths were caused by drowning, the manner of one accidental and the other undetermined.
"You have one or two, yeah, but when you have three, now we're seeing an alarming pattern," City Councilman Robert Holden said.
Holden said the industrial area can become desolate at night.
"We need better lighting there, but should also, if we're gonna open up clubs, we gotta put up fencing so people just don't fall into the creek," he said.
Mother of Damani Alexander suspects foul play in son's death; NYPD disagrees
Desiree Nicholson, Alexander's mother, told CBS News New York she's suspicious about the circumstances surrounding her son's death.
"There has to be foul play," she said.
But she said the detectives disagreed.
"The first thing they said to me is that they found him floating in the water, but there is no foul play, there's no blunt trauma and there is no marks of violence. So I said, how can that be? I mean, Damani is a person who knows how to swim," Nicholson said.
"Do you think the police are taking this seriously?" CBS News New York's Ali Bauman asked.
"I don't think so," Nicholson said.
Alexander's friend shared text messages with CBS News New York from the Sunday night before Alexander's body was found. Alexander wrote, "I think dudes trynna kill me," then the club – "Knockdown center" – and "Dudes waiting for me outside." His friend told Bauman soon after sending those texts, Alexander stopped responding.
"If someone knows something, we're asking that you come forward with that information," Nicholson said.
The New York City Police Department said they do not suspect any criminality.
