'I cry every night': Mom seeks justice year after Paterson teen's shooting

PATERSON — Ivernis Santiago said she will never get over the pain of losing her 18-year-old son, Robert Cuadra, who was killed last year in the crossfire of a gang shootout.

A high school honor student, Cuadra earned a full college scholarship through a program for teens facing hardships, volunteered with community nonprofit groups and was bringing home groceries for his family when he was killed.

“I cry every night,” Santiago said, “just me and my pillow.”

Thursday marks the first anniversary of Cuadra’s death, and his mother said this week that she doesn’t have much faith that the criminal justice system will punish his killer.

The Passaic County Prosecutor’s Office last year said six people were involved in the crime, but so far authorities have made just three arrests. Santiago said court proceedings in those cases keep getting postponed. Meanwhile, the name of the person who allegedly fired the shot that killed Cuadra has not been made public.

“The actual murderer has not been caught,” Santiago said.

Security camera video recordings of what a judge called “a Wild West shootout” were played in court last year. The videos showed Cuadra crouching behind his vehicle as a barrage of gunshots rang out.

One of the combatants then moved toward a fence along the sidewalk. The video showed the man firing another shot and Cuadra slumping to the ground.

Authorities said Cuadra was killed by a bullet to the head, but none of the criminal complaints filed against the three men arrested last year — Jaquin Williams, Kahaz Heron and Jahed Jones — identify exactly who the shooter was.

Mayor Andre Sayegh said this week that law enforcement officials told him they have the killer in custody.

In April, a grand jury rendered indictments on murder and various other charges against Williams, Heron and Jones.

“Their cases are still ongoing, with a status conference in March,” said Allan Nawrocki, the senior assistant Passaic County prosecutor in charge of homicide cases. “No additional arrests have been made, although the investigation still continues in efforts to locate other individuals who may have been involved in the shooting leading to the death of Cuadra.”

Earlier:Mother of Paterson honor student Robert Cuadra accepts his posthumous diploma

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The three defendants all have pleaded not guilty. Their lawyers last year contended that detectives investigating the killing mishandled their interrogation of Jones by questioning him for three hours without his attorney present.

Lawyer Harley Breite, who is representing Heron, said he plans to try to block certain witness statements from being used against his client, dismissing them as “the hearsay of other people.”

“We’re strenuously contesting the evidence,” Breite said. “My client is not responsible for the tragic death of that young man.”

Santiago said the Prosecutor’s Office has provided her with little information about the case.

“I can’t get them to give me anything,” she said.

The grieving mother said she would like to see the Prosecutor’s Office take a tougher stand with the suspects it has in custody to find the shooter.

“Tell them they are looking at life without parole and see how fast they start talking,” she said.

But Santiago also said she doesn’t think her son would want to see harsh punishments imposed on his killers.

“Robert always focused on the brightness in the worst things. There was no negativity in him,” the mother said. “He wouldn’t want anything bad to happen to them.”

Santiago expressed frustration that her son’s death hasn’t changed much on the streets of Paterson. Every day, she said, she hears the relentless sound of sirens from police cars, ambulances and firetrucks. Young men still brazenly congregate on Paterson’s worst corners, she said, unfazed by the police patrolling the streets.

“Paterson has so much anger and fear and bad energy,” she said.

Santiago talked about her grieving process over the past year.

“Reality is starting to sink in,” she said. “I’m starting to realize he’s never going to walk through that door again.”

Cuadra’s cousin Carlos Traverso Jr. expressed similar sentiments.

“I think the whole family right now is just going through the motions,” he said. "Everyone is still in disbelief.”

Santiago and her son sometimes worked together during events at The Brownstone banquet hall in Paterson. She remains employed there and has added a second job as a clerk in the Paterson’s planning offices.

Last fall, Santiago moved from Godwin Avenue — where her son was killed — to a different part of the city. But her mother, the grandmother who had gone grocery shopping with Robert on the night he was killed, still lives on Godwin in the same apartment.

Traverso attributed the grandmother’s decision to stay on Godwin to her being a strong-willed “Spanish lady.”

“She said, ‘That’s where he was when he died; I’m not leaving,’” Traverso said, explaining the grandmother’s decision to stay.

In the days after Cuadra’s death, Santiago talked openly about her own struggles with drug addiction and how her children had spent four years in foster homes until she found recovery. Robert, she said then, had inspired her to get clean with perseverance and positivity.

Traverso said some members of the family were worried that her son's death would leave Santiago vulnerable and that she might resume using drugs.

“We didn’t want her to go back to her old lifestyle,” he said. “It’s a miracle she hasn’t relapsed. She has stayed strong.”

Santiago said her deceased son still helps her avoid the old demons. She recalled telling Robert she would not relapse.

“I kept my promise to him,” she said.

Joe Malinconico is editor of Paterson Press.

Email: editor@patersonpress.com

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Robert Cuadra Paterson NJ: A year after student's shooting death