The murderer who shot an NYPD officer in the head in Brooklyn nearly 40 years ago is set to be released, but the victim's furious daughter wants him to rot in prison “for the rest of his life.”
Francisco Rodriguez was 22 years old and had been released on parole for just 42 days when he killed traffic police officer Robert Venable on September 22, 1987.
Januari Venable, who was 8 years old when his father was killed, told the state parole board on Oct. 11, “It doesn't matter whether he was a model prisoner or not, whether he helped others or not.” Having a father. I didn't have anyone by my side to tell me everything was going to be okay. ”
Rodriguez, 58, is currently incarcerated at Greenhaven Correctional Facility in Dutchess County. If he is paroled, he would be the 44th cop killer released by the state since 2017.
Officer Venable, a single father, called his daughter the night of the murder to let her know he would be home late.
“I was the last person to talk to him,” she said. “He said he would be late coming home because he had been arrested. I was always awake waiting for him, so he said, 'Go to sleep.'
Venable and six other traffic officers responded to a call of an armed man while transporting a prisoner on Pitkin Street in East New York, Brooklyn.
As Venable searched the area, two men jumped out of a building on Pitkin Street and opened fire, hitting Venable, who was wearing civilian clothes, once in the head. Police said at the time that one of the weapons used in the attack was a Uzi.
He was rushed to the hospital and fought until his last breath.
“My aunt said he coded three times the night it all happened,” her daughter recalled. “He was a fighter and he was fighting for his life.”
Rodriguez was found guilty of second-degree murder and sentenced to 37 years to life in prison.
The main reason for the police killer's release is that the rules governing how the 17-member parole board considers prisoner release were changed in 2017, reform advocates and the law That's thanks to years of lobbying by groups, law enforcement officials said.
A “risk and needs assessment” score, which takes into account factors such as a prisoner's age and prison history, now “controls for the process” rather than the seriousness of the crime.
Venable's daughter is angry.
“He's old enough to live his whole life,” she said of the killer. “It seems tragic that he would be rewarded for doing something so horrible.”
“My grandmother always said Mr. Rodriguez's family could still visit and see his eyes, and all we had to visit was the headstone,” she said.
“He should spend the rest of his life in prison.”
Patrick Hendry, president of the Police Benevolent Association, called on New Yorkers to support the officer's daughter and write a letter on her behalf.
“Officer Robert Venable was an invaluable asset to his family, and now they are facing an incredibly tough battle without him,” Mr Hendry said. “We can't let them fight alone. We need every New Yorker to step up and support them… Send the Parole Board message Never let his killer go free. ”
