Bronx Woman And Brooklyn Man Indicted In Death Of Lawrence Leathers

Defendants Allegedly Choked And Hit Victim

          Bronx District Attorney Darcel D. Clark today announced that a man and a woman have been indicted for Manslaughter and Criminally Negligent Homicide in the death of a Bronx man.

        District Attorney Clark said, “The defendants allegedly acted together and caused the death of the 37-year-old victim, Lawrence Leathers. They allegedly put him in a chokehold for an extensive amount of time, and assaulted him. We will pursue justice for the victim and his loved ones.”

         District Attorney Clark said the defendants, Lisa Harris, 41, of 438 East 141^st Street, and Sterling Aguilar, 29, of 1216 East 34^th Street, Brooklyn, were arraigned today on second-degree Manslaughter and Criminally Negligent Homicide before Bronx Supreme Court Justice George Villegas. Bail was continued at $5,000 bond/$3,000 cash. The defendants are due back in court on October 3, 2019.

         According to the investigation, on June 2, 2019, the defendants, who are friends, and the victim were at the Mott Haven apartment Leathers shared with Harris, with whom he was in a relationship. A fight allegedly began between Leathers and Harris, and Aguilar allegedly put Leathers in a chokehold for about 30 minutes while Harris sat on the victim’s chest and allegedly punched him multiple times in the face. An autopsy revealed that the victim’s cause of death was homicidal asphyxia with compression to the neck.

       The case is being prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney John Miras, Homicide Counsel in the Homicide Bureau, under the supervision of Christine Scaccia, Chief of the Homicide Bureau, and the overall supervision of James Brennan, Deputy Chief of the Trial Division, and Theresa Gottlieb, Chief of the Trial Division. District Attorney Clark thanked NYPD Detectives Sandy Polanco of the 40^thPrecinct Squad and Christine Reyes from Bronx Homicide for their assistance in the investigation.

An indictment is an accusatory instrument and not proof of a defendant’s guilt.