A Bronx mother is grieving after her 15-year-old son was allegedly strangled to death by his stepfather. She told The Washington Post she fears the suspect could be roaming the streets as early as Friday.
Karen Glenn, whose son, Corde Scott, was brutally murdered in their apartment last year, said she fears that suspected killer Tyrese Minter may be released after a scheduled parole hearing, even though he still faces separate criminal charges in connection to her teenage son’s death.
“I honestly feel unsafe,” Glenn told The Washington Post. “I don’t think the parole board cares at all about my safety, my daughter’s safety or my son’s life, but they do.”
To make matters worse, Glenn said her 6-year-old daughter witnessed her brother’s horrific death and she fears Minter will return.
“She’s afraid of him. She’s a victim too. She had to witness it,” she said. “It’s cruel. There’s no consideration for the victim. There’s no consideration for the family.”
“My family deserves better,” Glenn added. “My son’s life matters and my 6-year-old daughter is also a victim. I will fight for my family.”
Following Minter’s arrest in April 2023, Corde’s violent death sparked widespread outrage.
The former inmate allegedly struggled with the boy and began choking him inside the apartment he shared with the boy, his sister and his mother.
He was eventually charged with manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide in the boy’s death but was released without bail by Judge Naita Semaj, who is known for being soft on crime.
She said the judge’s inexplicable decision meant that Minter would return to the apartment where Corde was killed and where he still shared with Glenn and their young daughter.
“He was paroled back into my home, back into the home he lived in before he went to prison,” she said this week. “And so they thought it was safe? They approved my home. Safe for who? He killed Corde.”
Infuriated by the decision to release Minter, Gov. Kathy Hockle stepped in and ordered the former inmate arrested on a state warrant for violating parole for an earlier robbery conviction, for which Minter had been incarcerated at Rikers Island.
But that could change on Friday. Minter is scheduled to appear before a Brooklyn parole board judge, who is considering a plea deal that would reduce his sentence for the violations to 15 months. Sources say that because Minter has already served that much time in prison, a plea deal could result in immediate release.
Minter is still out of bail in the manslaughter case and could be released.
Glenn said he’d received word from the Bronx District Attorney’s Office that prosecutors would be meeting with the parole judge in the case ahead of Friday’s hearing, but it was unclear whether they would seek to have bail set in Corde’s case.
Minter’s public defender did not respond to The Washington Post’s request for comment.
A spokesman for the state Department of Corrections and Community Supervision, which oversees New York’s parole system, would confirm only that Minter’s hearing is scheduled for Friday.
But the impact of the case is profound: Judge Semaj was removed from hearing criminal cases in the Bronx and demoted to civil court following her decision to release Minter, a final blow for her supervisors.
To make matters worse for Corde’s family, the second judge in the case, Bronx County Judge David Lewis, granted Minter’s request to remain free pending the completion of her manslaughter trial.
Glenn said he could be fired as soon as this week.
“I don’t think they are concerned about my safety or my daughter’s safety,” she said.
