Overkill

surrendered.

Jeremy had just stood there at that point, bent over slightly with his hands on his knees, trying to catch his breath. He’d noticed blood, his own blood, dripping to the pavement from his mouth or nose, or both.

JAYWALKER: What happened next?

JEREMY: I heard a scream.

JAYWALKER: What did you do?

JEREMY: I looked up, and I saw Victor pulling out a gun.

JAYWALKER: Where was he pulling it from?

JEREMY: From his-from right here.

He pointed to his midsection, just above his waistband and slightly off to one side.

JAYWALKER: What did you do?

JEREMY: For a second, nothing. Then I charged him.

Jaywalker asked how far apart the two of them had been when Jeremy had first seen the gun. Jeremy pointed to the portion of the jury box closest to him, a distance of maybe eight or ten feet.

JAYWALKER: What happened?

JEREMY: I got to him before he could fire it, and we started wrestling over it. I was trying to stop him from pointing it at me. And he was trying to bring it up high, toward my body.

He stood up and demonstrated by clasping both hands against his chest.

JAYWALKER: Then what happened?

JEREMY: The gun went off, real loud. And I thought he shot me.

JAYWALKER: Why did you think that?

JEREMY: The bang was so loud, and as soon as it happened I felt a burning sensation right here, in my stomach [pointing].

JAYWALKER: What happened next?

JEREMY: I thought I was falling down, but it was him, Victor, who was leaning to one side like.

JAYWALKER: And as he was doing that, what, if anything, did you do?

JEREMY: I grabbed the gun away from him, got my finger on the trigger, and I fired.

JAYWALKER: How many shots did you fire?

JEREMY: I don’t know. I just kept pulling the trigger and hearing bangs.

JAYWALKER: Who was firing the gun?

JEREMY: I was. Me.

JAYWALKER: Did any of the bullets you fired hit Victor?

JEREMY: Yes.

JAYWALKER: How do you know?

JEREMY: Because he’s dead.

Jaywalker let the last answer echo in the courtroom for just a second or two. So far, Jeremy had done as well as Jaywalker could have hoped for. But so far had been the easy part. Now came the hard part.

JAYWALKER: Jeremy, you’ve sat in this courtroom for a week now. And you’ve heard people take the same witness stand as you, and say that at some point after the first shot or shots, Victor ran quite a distance and fell. And that you ran after him and shot him one last time. Did you hear them say that?

JEREMY: I heard them say that.

JAYWALKER: Is that what happened?

JEREMY: I don’t know. I can only tell you what I remember, and I don’t remember anything like that. To me, it all happened fast, and it all happened at once. The first shot goes off. I think I’m shot. Victor leans away. I grab the gun, point it at him and start firing. So maybe those other people are right. But honestly, I don’t remember it happening that way. I just remember shooting at him until he was on the ground and not moving anymore.

JAYWALKER: And then?

JEREMY: And then I must have stopped. And I looked and saw this gun in my hand. And I remember feeling like I was in a dream. And Miranda and me, we began walking away.

JAYWALKER: Did you walk, or did you run?

JEREMY: I tried to run, but I couldn’t.

JAYWALKER: Why not?

JEREMY: I don’t know. It felt like my legs wouldn’t work right.

They’d walked uptown, Jeremy still holding the gun in his hand. At some point Miranda had told him to put it away. He’d tried to put it in his waistband, but it was too heavy and started slipping down his jeans. So he’d thrown it into the sewer. Then they’d kept walking to Jeremy’s building.

JAYWALKER: Did you stay at home that night?

JEREMY: No.

JAYWALKER: Where did you stay?

JEREMY: Up in the Bronx.

JAYWALKER: And did you continue to stay in the Bronx?

JEREMY: No. I just stayed there that one night.

JAYWALKER: Where did you go from there?

JEREMY: To Puerto Rico.

JAYWALKER: Why did you go to Puerto Rico?

JEREMY: I was scared they were going to kill me.

JAYWALKER: Who?

JEREMY: Sandro and them.

Jaywalker established that Jeremy had spent seven months in Puerto Rico and could have stayed there indefinitely, but instead had returned to New York in late April.

JAYWALKER: What did you do when you got back?

JEREMY: I told my mother I was going to go to the police and give myself up.

JAYWALKER: And did you in fact do that?

JEREMY: Yes, I did.

Jaywalker asked him when he had last seen Miranda. He replied that it had been half a year ago, when she’d come out to Rikers Island to visit him one time. Since that day, he hadn’t seen her or heard from her. Nor did he know where she was now.

And finally…

JAYWALKER: Jeremy, you say you killed Victor Quinones.

JEREMY: Yes, I did.

JAYWALKER: Can you tell us why you killed him?

JEREMY: I can only tell you what was in my mind at the time.

JAYWALKER: And what was that?