Syracuse, NY — The Syracuse mother of a murdered 11-month-old baby was nearly pulled out of a courtroom in handcuffs Tuesday after the gallery erupted in chaos during the appearance for the accused killer.
One man, shouting at the accused killer, had already been grabbed by the arms and pulled out of the courtroom. Others were struggling against court security in the courthouse hallway.
In the courtroom, the mother of slain Baby Dior was being forcibly restrained by security, with a handcuff already on one wrist.
That’s when state Supreme Court Justice Gordon Cuffy -- unable to maintain control from the bench -- took the extraordinary step of coming down into the fracas.
“Take off the handcuffs!” the judge ordered as he rushed toward the gallery.
He then leaned over the railing to speak directly to the mourning mom. It took at least 15 seconds for the commotion -- security and spectators were still pushing and shoving -- to calm down enough for him to speak.
In his characteristically quiet voice, the judge begged the mom to calm down.
“It is too much,” the judge told her, his tall frame leaning over the first row so he could communicate directly to her face. “You gotta calm down. You gotta stay here.”
A tense situation that could have ended with the mom of Syracuse’s youngest victim of street violence arrested instead defused with the baby’s mom crying softly and getting tissues from a security officer.
Baby Dior’s mom declined comment as she left the courtroom, still emotional, after speaking briefly with Chief Assistant District Attorney Melinda McGunnigle. The prosecutor later confirmed the distraught woman’s identity as the baby’s mom, Desiree Seymore.
State Supreme Court Justice Gordon Cuffy, pictured here before taking the bench in 2012.
The 10 a.m. court appearance for suspect Chavez Ocasio, 23, was supposed to only last a matter of minutes. Ocasio, facing up to 125 years to life in prison if convicted of all of his crimes, was supposed to get a hearing date as his case progresses toward trial.
He’s accused of shooting into a vehicle on Grant Avenue in April, striking and killing the baby. No motive for the shooting has been made public.
But it only took a matter of seconds Tuesday for a man in the gallery -- shouting at Ocasio -- to be grabbed from behind and removed by security. That led to a scuffle with court security that spilled from the courtroom into the hallway.
A man was led away in handcuffs from the court appearance for accused baby murderer Chavez Ocasio.
As the man was led down the courthouse hallway in handcuffs, the scuffle continued in the courtroom. The baby’s mom ended up restrained by court security, as well, but fought back as one handcuff was placed on her wrist.
Cuffy, who had been calling for order from the bench, had seen enough. He climbed down from the bench and rushed over.
If any way possible, the judge knew Dior’s mom should be allowed to stay in the courtroom . And he made sure that happened.
The family of Dior Harris, father Shaquail, siblings Shaquail Jr, Dezriana, 12, and mother Desiree Seymore, are surrounded by images of Dior in their home Tuesday, April 13, 2021. Dior was murdered Sunday evening when poice suspect Chavez Ocasio shot into the back seat of the car she and her mother were in and was struck three times as well as two other children in sitting next to Dior that were hurt, but expected to survive.N. Scott Trimble | syracuse.com
Staff writer Douglass Dowty can be reached at ddowty@syracuse.com or 315-470-6070.