'You hug your kids extra hard.’ Brooklyn DA reflects on personal connection to fatal shooting of 7-month-old baby in exclusive interview
Seven-month-old Kaori Patterson-Moore was killed by a stray bullet in broad daylight - just days before Easter.
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On the eve of a key development in the case of the fatal shooting of a 7-month-old girl in Brooklyn, the borough's top prosecutor spoke with News 12's senior reporter Tara Rosenblum in an exclusive interview - the only one-on-one since the tragedy.
Kaori Patterson-Moore was killed by a stray bullet in broad daylight - just days before Easter.
District Attorney Eric Gonzalez described to News 12 the emotional visit he made to the baby's family in their darkest moment.
"When I went to the hospital...to see the anguish on that family...is something I will never forget. I will never forget it," he said. "You go home and you hug your kids extra hard," he says.
Gonzalez says the incident wasn't just another gun violence case.
"I grew up in that neighborhood...The shooting took place only blocks from where I grew up as a child. So, I was devastated by it," he said.
The night he visited the family in the hospital, he says he promised them that there would be justice.
That promise is moving forward as the accused shooter is already in custody, and on Tuesday, the second suspect is expected to be extradited back to New York from Pennsylvania.
"The evidence is very strong, and...I'm very confident that a jury, when they get this case in the future, will find justice for this family," he says.
The fatal shooting comes as Brooklyn recorded its lowest levels of shootings in history.
Gonzalez says this case is a reminder that the work is far from over.
"This is a case that we will remember for a long time, and I hope that...it's a catalyst for the city to make sure that more and more resources are not just spent on the prosecution of cases, which is what I do, but on the prevention of violent crime," he says.
Investigators believe 7-month-old Kaori was not the intended target.
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