A Brooklyn mother is demanding answers after her 30-year-old son Damani Alexander’s body was found dead in a river, and some think that this is the latest in a disturbing trend that has taken place over the course of a year.
Speaking to CBS News New York, Desiree Nicholson said she believes there is foul play involved in her son’s death, but police do not agree with her.
“The first thing they said to me is that they found him floating in the water, but there is no foul play, there’s no blunt trauma and there is no marks of violence. So I said, how can that be? I mean, Damani is a person who knows how to swim,” Nicholson told CBS News.
In July, Alexander’s body was found in Newtown Creek near East Williamsburg, a Brooklyn neighborhood. Before his disappearance, he was seen at a the performance venue/art space known as Knockdown Center. Two other people were also found dead in Newtown Creek in the past year. Those two individuals, John Castic and Karl Clemente, were seen at the Brooklyn Mirage nightclub before they were later found dead a month apart. According to CBS News, the medical examiner ruled that Castic and Clemente died from drowning.
City Councilman Robert Holden said the recent trend unfolding at Newtown Creek is concerning.
“You have one or two, yeah, but when you have three, now we’re seeing an alarming pattern,” Holden said, per CBS News. “We need better lighting there, but should also, if we’re gonna open up clubs, we gotta put up fencing so people just don’t fall into the creek.”
According to text messages CBS News obtained from one of Alexander’s friends, he feared for his life before he disappeared.
“I think dudes trynna kill me,” Alexander wrote, according to the text messages. He also wrote “Knockdown center” and later added, “Dudes waiting for me outside.” Alexander then stopped texting, his friend said.
New York City police told CBS News that they don’t suspect foul play in Alexander’s death.
CBS News New York’s Ali Bauman asked, “Do you think the police are taking this seriously?” to which Nicholson responded, “I don’t think so.”
“If someone knows something, we’re asking that you come forward with that information,” Nicholson said.
