7-month-old NYC girl killed by stray bullet laid to rest as accused killer claims ‘I didn’t do it’
The 7-month-old girl killed by a stray bullet in Brooklyn was laid to rest Tuesday in a tiny pink Minnie Mouse casket — as one of her accused killers was hauled to court while insisting, “I didn’t do it.”
Grief-stricken friends and relatives, many of them wearing pink, hugged and sobbed while saying their final goodbyes to little Kaori Patterson-Moore, a day after a private funeral service for the family.
The tragic infant’s casket was taken to a cemetery inside a carriage pulled by a white horse during a heart-wrenching funeral procession.
As the procession took place, police walked alleged getaway driver Matthew Rodriguez, 18, out of the 90th precinct about three miles away, on his way to face charges in Brooklyn Supreme Court.
Rodriguez — who was charged with second-degree murder in the senseless April 1 drive-by shooting that killed the little girl — claimed to reporters that he had no clue his alleged accomplice was going to open fire.
“I didn’t do it,” he shouted as police led him out of the NYPD stationhouse in handcuffs.
“I didn’t know it was gonna happen. It’s not my fault. I didn’t pull the trigger,” he insisted. “I promise, I didn’t know he was going to do that. I didn’t know he was going to pull the trigger.”
Police said Rodriguez was driving a moped when his passenger, Amuri Greene, allegedly opened fire on a Williamsburg street, killing Kaori as her 2-year-old brother, who was sitting in the same stroller, was grazed by a bullet.
Rodriguez, “acting in concert” with Greene, drove a moped while speeding against traffic through the streets and on the sidewalks in Brooklyn on a sunny Wednesday afternoon,” turning “what should have been a beautiful day for Koari Patterson-Moore and her family into a waking nightmare,” Brooklyn Assistant District Attorney Christopher Mirabella said in court.
He “took those actions intentionally to aid and allow” Greene to allegedly fire two shots from a handgun “into a group of adults and children on the crowded street corner just outside a heavily populated market in broad daylight,” Mirabella charged.
Sources told The Post this week that the gunman was allegedly aiming at the baby’s dad, drill rapper Jamari Patterson, due to a feud between two Brooklyn housing projects.
Rodriguez allegedly crashed the moped about two blocks from the shooting scene, which landed Greene, 21, in the hospital, where he was arrested and charged with murder.
Meanwhile, Rodriguez fled to Pennsylvania and was nabbed by US Marshals following a days-long manhunt and was eventually hauled back to Brooklyn.
“He assisted by driving [Greene]. He assisted by taking off after the shooting,” Brooklyn DA Eric Gonzalez told reporters after Rodriguez’s arraignment on a 17-count indictment, charging him with murder, attempted murder, criminal possession of a weapon, endangering the welfare of a child, and hindering prosecution.
“After the crash, he picked up the firearm. That firearm has not been recovered,” Gonzalez said.
Asked about the motive for the shooting, the DA told reporters he was more focused on tracking down the weapon, but said his office had “a very strong case.”
Rodriguez pleaded not guilty through his attorney and shook his head as prosecutors spoke during the arraignment.
He was ordered held without bail.
Greene was scheduled to be arraigned on the indictment on Wednesday.
