A Brooklyn teen has been charged with murder for the stabbing of another young man outside of a 7-Eleven convenience store on Monday, (April 29) and according to reports, the young boy’s mother was an accomplice in the slaying.
David Lopez, 17, reportedly stabbed Rohan Burke in the chest and neck at about 4 PM, and surveillance footage shows Lopez’s mother, 38-year-old Barbara Galloza, standing beside her son and taking the bloody weapon away from him.
“(She) immediately grabs the knife and hurries away with the knife,” Prosecutor Wilfredo Cotto. “What we allege was caught in video surveillance … The knife’s location is unknown. The mother refused to reveal the knife’s location.”
Galloza is in jail on a $25,000 bond.
Additionally, the teen faces a charge of criminal possession of a weapon. The stab wounds reportedly punctured one of Rohan’s arteries and he later hobbled into a nearby restaurant seeking help. He was taken to a local hospital where he died from his injuries.
Galloza’s lawyer, Adam Uris, said David was outnumbered four to one during the Monday slaying, however, law enforcement said no other suspects were involved in the encounter.
Uris challenges David’s mother was simply trying to protect her son.
“I think that the people, in this case, are basing their allegations on the fact of the mother’s love and willingness to take care of her child,” he said. “My client tells me she wasn’t present when whatever happened happened.”
One of Lopez’s neighbors said Lopez’s grandfather died the same day as the stabbing, and the family is beside themselves with grief.
“They’re beside themselves,” the neighbor said. “It’s too much for them right now. It’s too much. They feel horrible about what happened. They’re just dealing with too much right now.”
