A family waiting at the beside of 8-year-old Jacob Butler, currently in a coma from last month's deadly rampage in Brooklyn, is still waiting for answers.
It's been two weeks since the driver of a speeding car struck four people and killed Lynn Christopher, Butler's 67-year-old grandmother, and police have made no arrests.
In addition to pleading for the driver to turn himself in, Lindy Christopher, the boy's mother, wants to know what role police played in the rampage that ripped her family apart on June 25.
That Saturday afternoon, police say officers tried to pull over two people in a Honda HRV with mismatched plates on the corner of a Bed-Stuy block. But the NYPD said the car sped away, slamming into one bicyclist, injuring the driver of another car and mowing down three pedestrians, including Christopher and Butler.
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"His little body was thrown in the air and he fell down on a hydrant head-first," Butler's mother said.
Christopher envisioned a different summer break for her son, who remains in a hospital bed attached to machines keeping him alive. Last year, the family made the decision to move out of state in search of space and peace of mind.
"I don't want to be here. I would never come back here," Christopher says now.
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But they came back to Bed-Stuy last month for a family visit. The grandmother was out with Butler on a beautiful sunny summer afternoon, steps away from the family home, when tragedy struck.
"I am mourning the loss of my mother while still being there for my son as best as I can," Christopher said.
Doctors removed part of his skull to relieve brain swelling that could have killed the 8-year-old. What his road to recovery will look like if he wakes up is still unclear.
Police have made no arrests. And now, the family is urging Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez to look into whether NYPD broke their own policy and engaged in a high-speed chase with the driver.
"What happened police officers? Did you pursue the car in a high-speed chase?" Councilmember Charles Barron said. "Unless there’s a bunch of weapons and you’re chasing murders, no high-speed chases."
A police department spokesperson that the case is still under investigation, but said their policy "requires that a vehicle pursuit be terminated whenever the risks to uniformed members of the service and the public outweigh the danger to the community, if the suspect is not immediately apprehended."
When reached for comment, the Brooklyn District Attorney's Office said it was investigating the case in its "entirety."
