Crime & Safety
Judges Uphold Indictment of Man Charged with Manslaughter in Baby's Death
Bryant, who was killed last week, was appealing indictment stemming from 2011 incident
The Belleville man charged with manslaughter in the shooting death of a toddler in 2011 lost his appeal of his indictment Wednesday, one week after he was fatally shot on a Newark street, NJ.com reported.
Wakir Bryant, 29, had an appeal pending when he was found by Newark police Oct. 3. The Essex County Prosecutor’s Office said Bryant appeared to have been killed in a “targeted” shooting.
Bryant was charged with manslaughter in the Dec. 30, 2011 death of 2-year-old Mikhy Robinson. Bryant was at the home of Mikhy’s mother early that morning, when the child was fatally shot.
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An Appellate Division panel upheld the indictment Wednesday, noting that Bryant brought the stolen gun into the home and left it in his coat pocket where the child could easily find it.
“Although various suppositions may be proposed as to how the child was fatally shot, the evidence permits an assumption that the child somehow obtained the gun from defendant’s coat and shot himself,” according to a portion of the ruling quoted by NJ.com.Find out what's happening in Newarkwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
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