No charges in August death of 6-year-old

Feb. 06--UTICA -- After a roughly six-month investigation, the Oneida County District Attorney's Office said no charges would be filed in the death of 6-year-old Qasir Brown, who was struck by a motor vehicle while riding his bicycle in August.

An attorney representing the Brown family, however, said liability money would be sought through the driver's insurance company.

The case stems from an Aug. 2 fatal collision on the 130 block of Boyce Avenue. According to the memo issued by Oneida County District Attorney Scott McNamara's office, an SUV driven by Utica resident Lawrence Gregory and a bicycle ridden by Qasir collided.

The 15-page memo details evidence that included available surveillance footage.

The memo states that around 5:32 p.m. Qasir's mother, Qasheeka Brown, and another woman are observed talking on the porch of a Boyce Avenue residence while Qasir is seen riding his bicycle on the sidewalk.

"He is unaccompanied and not wearing a helmet," the memo states. The women later are seen in the footage joined by others in conversation.

At the 5:35:40 p.m. mark, a "blue SUV can be observed backing slowly down the driveway toward the roadway. At that time, it appears that the vehicle has struck something as it makes an upward and then downward movement. ... At approximately 5:35:50 p.m., the women can be observed exiting the porch and running over to the SUV. They do not exit the porch until after the collision occurs and the SUV has come to final rest."

According to the memo, Lawrence Gregory, the driver of the SUV, indicated to police "that as he got closer to the street, he felt his truck rock back and then moved forward. He exited the truck and looked underneath and saw a kid's bicycle and a little boy in front of the rear passenger side tire. He then observed someone pull the child out from under the vehicle and onto the lawn of 134 Boyce Avenue."

"It is clear that there was human error by Mr. Gregory, which resulted in him not perceiving or observing Qasir on the sidewalk as he was backing out of the driveway," the memo reads.

"It was a terrible thing," McNamara said. "There was no evidence to support a charge."

After the accident, a public vigil was organized amid outcry by community members who felt the fatal accident was racially motivated.

Attorney Mark Wolber, who represents the Brown family, said that after the accident, "outside people got involved" and things happened that the family did not necessarily want to happen.

"At the time, I felt like the entire world hated me," Gregory said Monday. "If I could change anything, I would. I want the back and forth to stop. I need to grieve. The family needs to grieve. Obviously, (the Brown family) needs to grieve differently than me. ... My son was in the truck with me. I tried to shield him, too. If I could change this in any way, I would."

Wolber said that "from our standpoint, the liability would be with the driver. So, that will be pursued with the insurance company."

"I don't think the family wants to push this," he said. "They want to grieve in private."

Contact reporter Jolene Cleaver at 315-792-4956 or follow her on Twitter (@OD_Cleaver).

To view the memo issued by the Oneida County District Attorney's Office, visit: http://www.ocgov.net/sites/default/files/distatty/DeclineToProsecuteCases/Qasir%20Brown%20memo.pdf

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