Family and friends of Jonathan Maldonado gathered together, Monday, November 29th for the 4th annual candlelight prayer vigil.
The family’s attorney Randy McLoughlin said a few words and shared an update on where the case stands. Nancy Maldonado – Jonathan’s mother – said some prayers and thanked everyone for being there for her family year after year. “The continued love and support meant so much to me,” Nancy shared with Black Westchester.
While many in Westchester have rallied and peacefully protest after the deaths of Breonna Taylor, Admaud Arbery, George Floyd and others, let us never forget we have George Floyd’s right here in Westchester. Black and Brown individuals who have been killed by law enforcement. Let us never forget their names, Kenneth Chamberlain Sr. (White Plains), Kamal Flowers (New Rochelle), Felix Kumi (Mount Vernon), Dario Tana (Yonkers), Danroy “DJ” Henry (Mount Pleasant), Christopher Ridley (White Plains), Raynette Turner (Mount Vernon) and too many others. In all of these cases the officer(s) was not charged. Most of them didn’t receive the national attention of George Floyd, but their families are still fighting for justice, and they happened right here in Westchester County. So Black Westchester will keep their names alive. Another name most do not know is Jonathan Maldonado (Greenburgh), most do not know of this case.
Jonathon Maldonado, 21, was tased and slammed to the ground by Greenburgh police officers and went unconscious while being detained, Wednesday, November 29, 2017. Two years later the New York Attorney General’s Office decided not to criminally prosecute Greenburgh police officers in connection to the death of Jonathan Maldonado, much to the disappointment of his family.
On Nov. 29, 2017, he went to Best Buy on Central Park Avenue in Hartsdale. When he left, store employees chased him on suspicion he had taken a cell phone and surrounded him at nearby Webb Field, where he put four glassine packets in his mouth.
Greenburgh Police Officer Richard Maguire was the first officer to arrive and when told Maldonado put drugs in his mouth, he grabbed Maldonado from behind, put him face down on the ground and sat on his back as he tried to handcuff him and get him to spit out the drugs.
Detective Sean Freeman who is also a paramedic, then arrived, followed by Officer Jean-Paul Lara, and when they too couldn’t handcuff Maldonado, Lara twice used a Taser to subdue him. But he was soon unresponsive and two doses of Narcan and resuscitation efforts over the next hour by Freeman, ambulance personnel and White Plains Hospital staff were unsuccessful. Police allege that a cell phone from the store was recovered from Maldonado.
The New York State Attorney General’s Office has concluded that no charges are warranted against Greenburgh police officers in the 2017 death of a Jonathan Maldonado, reported lohud. The report, released Monday, October 14, 2019, found that criminal charges against the officers were not warranted in the death of Jonathan Maldonado, the 21-year-old nephew of Yonkers City Council President Mike Khader.
Nancy Khader-Maldonado – his mother – broke her silence and exclusively talked to Black Westchester, Sunday, June 8, 2020, about the killing of her son, by members of the Greenburgh Police Department. Exactly one month to the day after that, attorneys for the Town of Greenburgh filed a motion asking the judge in the case to prohibit Nancy Khader-Maldonado for making further statements – they considered prejudicial – to the media. They attempted to get a gag order on the mother who loss her son at the hands of the police, which the judge denied.
The judge denied their motion to gag me,” Mrs. Khader-Maldonado shared with Black Westchester. “I will not be silenced. My fight continues.”
The Maldonado family has filed a $20 million civil lawsuit against the Town of Greenburgh and the police department. They family is still fighting for #JusticeForJonathan!
AJ Woodson
AJ Woodson is the Editor-In-Chief of Black Westchester and Co-Owner of Urban Soul Media Group, the parent company, Host & Producer of the People Before Politics Radio Show. AJ is a Father, Brother, An Author, Journalism Fellow (Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism), Hip-Hop Artist - one third of the legendary underground rap group JVC FORCE known for the single Strong Island, Radio Personality, Hip-Hop Historian, Documentarian, Activist, Criminal Justice Advocate and Freelance Journalist whose byline has appeared in several print publications and online sites including The Source, Vibe, the Village Voice, Upscale, Sonicnet.com, Launch.com, Rolling Out Newspaper, Daily Challenge Newspaper, Spiritual Minded Magazine, Word Up! Magazine, On The Go Magazine and several others.
