Antoinette Antonucci is suing her son Michael Heflerty's killer, Reginald Bell for the proceeds from a settlement he gained.
A Staten Island mother is suing her son’s killer, decided to maintain him from cashing in on a authorized payout he gained behind bars.
Reginald Bell fatally stabbed Michael Helferty throughout an argument in Port Richmond 14 years in the past, and now Helferty’s mother, Antoinette Antonucci, has filed a lawsuit in Staten Island Supreme Courtroom towards Bell for $11,858.53 — the proceeds of a authorized settlement Bell gained for a jailhouse harm.
Bell bought a $20,000 payout from town after a March 2011 incident at Rikers Island, wherein he slipped and fell, misplaced consciousness and suffered neck and again accidents whereas shifting a 70-pound wood ramp, in response to public data. The $11,858.53 was what remained after authorized charges, and was frozen by the state below the Son of Sam legislation, in response to courtroom data.
“It actually devastated my household. We’ve all suffered so much,” stated Antonucci’s daughter, Deanna Helferty. “Nothing’s going to compensate for what occurred.
“It’s only a matter of, we don’t need him to have it. He actually doesn’t deserve it,” Helferty, 34, stated of Bell, 59, who's serving a 20-year manslaughter sentence in Fishkill Correctional Facility for the November 2008 killing.
Helferty had gone to Bell’s residence to assist escort residence a pal’s mother, Deanna stated, when he and Bell started arguing. Bell, who 5 months earlier had been hailed a hero for serving to an aged man being attacked by canine in a yard, claimed the sufferer lunged at him first, in response to a report.
“My brother was 20 when he was killed and he had his complete life forward of him,” Helferty stated, recalling her youthful sibling as “actually humorous. He was variety. I simply cherished him. He was my finest pal.”
Time has not healed the household’s wounds.
“It feels the identical because the day it occurred. It by no means bought any higher,” Helferty stated.
The household came upon they had been dealing with a deadline to recoup the funds Bell gained after the state’s Workplace of Sufferer Companies despatched a letter.
“After we had been knowledgeable the deadline was developing, and the cash was going to return to him, we simply felt he doesn’t need to have that,” Helferty stated.
She wished the method for victims to maintain earnings out of the arms of criminals was simpler.
“It needs to be easier. We’re already going by way of a lot devastation and heartbreak. And we’re going by way of the courts, it’s not free, it places an enormous stress on the household,” she stated.
Bell couldn't be reached for remark.
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