Ramarley Graham, 18

Bronx, New York
February 02, 2012

Agencies: New York Police Department NYPD

Cause of death: Shooting


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Overview

In 2012, Ramarley Graham was stalked and gunned down by NYPD Officer Richard Haste. Murdered in what should have been the safety of his own home, Ramarley was fatally shot by Officer Haste in front of his grandmother and 6-year-old brother after entering their residency without a warrant. Following the unjust shooting, police officers quickly began covering their tracks by promoting false statements about the incident, some of which were later retracted. NYPD officers even tried to intimidate Ramarley's family by interrogating his grandmother for 7 hours and assaulting his mother at the precinct.

The 18-year-old Graham was shot in the chest in a bathroom in his family’s Bronx home. Officer Richard Haste said he fired because he thought he was going to be shot. But no weapons were found in the apartment.

Haste was indicted on state manslaughter charges. But charges were dismissed by a judge who said prosecutors improperly instructed grand jurors. A second grand jury declined to re-indict Haste.

Legal Action

April 13 2017 Ramarley Graham's mother sues the NYPD to determine why Ramarley Graham was killed.

June 2017 Mother releases documents.

On December 27, 2017, a Manhattan judge ruled that the NYPD would be required to release a large batch of records related to a cop's 2012 killing of Bronx teenager Ramarley Graham. The judge also criticized delays in bring officer to judgment.

The NYPD's "delay of almost six years since the incident with no stated date for the disciplinary trials, or reference to any specific ongoing investigation, creates a semblance of using Civil Rights Law…inappropriately as a shield to protect the NYPD from embarrassment, and not the interests of either Sergeant Morris or Officer McLoughlin," Mendez wrote.

On March 30, 2018, Graham's grandmother said newly surrendered internal New York Police Department documents proved that cops have lied about unarmed Bronx teen Ramarley Graham‘s fatal police shooting since his death.

In August 2018, after a nearly two-year effort by Graham’s family and activist groups to obtain thousands of pages of documents that include police reports and interviews from the day that Police Officer Richard Haste shot and killed Graham, as well as crime scene photos, Graham’s autopsy and files pertaining to the NYPD’s investigation into his death, Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Manuel Mendez ordered the New York City Police Department to release a trove of documents from the case.

 

Community and Family Efforts

June 2016 March and Vigil

 

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