Justice for Anthony Báez (rally). South Bronx. 1994.

By December 22nd of 1994, a great deal of families had already begun the annual pilgrimage across the country to spend precious time with their loved ones during the extended Christmastime holidays. In the South Bronx things were no different.

Happy to be back at his childhood home and visiting with his siblings and parents, Anthony R. Báez was making the most of his short stay tossing a football with his brothers, when the ball bounced and struck the side of the police cruiser. Police officer Francis Lavoti confronted the men, an altercation ensued, Anthony, who was asthmatic, was put in an illegal choke hold, which resulted in Báez’s passing out an dying as a result of negligent asphyxiation.

I covered the saga of the Báez family extensively, and for a short period provided communications support as a graphic design and image maker to help bring attention to their campaign and subsequent legal case.

After several court indictments and reversals, Lavoti was reindicted for “criminally negligent homicide” on December 1995. The following year, Lavoti was acquitted by the Supreme Court. In 1998 his family and Federal prosecutors proceeded to seek a civil suit and Lavoti finally served seven and a half years in federal prison prison. Lavoti was released in 2005.

These court cases and subsequent conviction of Officer Lavoti was one of the first such incidents to receive national and international attention and became an added clarion call to communities across the nation, and abroad, that they could stand up against institutionalized abuse.

Iris Báez continues to advocate against Police brutality and related abuse, and advocates on behalf of families who have suffered a similar tragic experience. In 2000, the street where Anthony Báez was murdered was rededicated from Cameron Place to Anthony R. Báez Place in his memory and stands as a symbol of the power of community activism—and a mother’s enteral love—who tirelessly fought for justice for her slain son. And won.