William Gentile Comments In NY Post Article | Dad Of Bronx Man Killed By Cop’s Gun Plans To Sue City & Officer

By Reuven Fenton and Jorge Fitz-Gibbon

November 26, 2019

The father of a Bronx man who shot himself with a cop pal’s gun is planning to file a wrongful death lawsuit against the officer, the city and the NYPD.

Former Housing Bureau Officer Martinson Afari Yeboah, 28, “recklessly, dangerously and negligently” left his loaded gun on a coffee table while he played FIFA Soccer with Frederick Afoakwah on April 21, according to a notice of claim filed Monday in Bronx Supreme Court by Ransford Afoakwah.

Frederick Afoakwah, 21, picked up the gun to inspect it and it went off, striking him in the neck. The shot woke up his father, who rushed into the room to see his son mortally wounded.

He was rushed to St. Barnabas Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

“The family’s devastated,” Ransford Afoakwah’s attorney, William Gentile, told The Post on Tuesday. “He had to wake up to see his son shot, trying to figure out what happened. They’re trying to get answers for what happened, what exactly occurred. There’s only one person that knows that, and that’s the defendant.”

Afari Yeboah, a rookie at the time, was suspended without pay following the incident and later fired. He was charged with manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide last month, cops said.

His attorney did not immediately return calls for comment Tuesday.

Ransford Afoakwah, 58, was named administrator of his son’s estate last month. He has filed a “notice of claim” with the court, a document announcing his intention to file a lawsuit.

A notice of claim alerts the city of a person’s intent to sue. The father will seek $50 million in damages, according to the papers.