Victim’s family blasts DA for lowering charges against retired NYPD cop in George Washington Bridge road rage killing

Manhattan prosecutors downgraded criminal charges against a retired NYPD detective accused of shooting a fellow driver to death during a road rage clash on the George Washington Bridge from murder to manslaughter during his arraignment Thursday — a move denounced by the victim’s heartbroken family, who packed multiple benches in the courtroom.

Suspect Victor Romero, 62, tailgated Con Edison worker Koran Irvine “aggressively” before firing a fatal shot through the victim’s rear windshield, prosecutors said in Manhattan Criminal Court.

The retired detective, who left the NYPD 25 years ago, was ordered held on $1 million bail.

The victim’s family questioned whether Romero got special treatment because he was a retired police officer, and called for justice for Irvine, a doting and encouraging father who worked hard and never missed his kids’ basketball games.

“This man was an ex-police officer, so he should know better. And he didn’t. He purposely pointed his weapon, shot into a car, killing my nephew. And his charge was manslaughter, not murder,” Irvine’s outraged aunt, Gale Forde, said. “I can’t understand that. I can’t understand. Because if it was me or you, it would be murder.”

“I am upset. I’m hurt, and I’m not pleased with this court system,” Forde, 67, added. “Koran was on his way home from work, a hard day’s work, and stayed overtime.”

Describing the slay as “a particularly senseless killing,” Assistant District Attorney Max Sears said the Tuesday evening shooting on the New Jersey-bound upper level of the Hudson River span was sparked by “a near collision” between the two men as they approached the bridge, which was caught on surveillance video.

A furious Romero pursued Irvine, tailgating him across the bridge, “following closely and at times aggressively” in his black Range Rover before quickly pulling to the right of Irvine’s car, firing from the driver’s seat into Irvine’s car while they drove directly next to each other, “still moving with the flow of traffic,” Sears said.

“The defendant’s gunshot entered through the back passenger window of the victim’s car and struck the victim in the right shoulder, killing him,” the prosecutor said.

Irvine, who was commuting home from his job as a technician in a dark blue Volkswagen hatchback, came to an abrupt stop in free-flowing traffic, lurching to the far-right lane. Medics rushed Irvine, a married father of two, to Englewood Medical Center in New Jersey, but he could not be saved. The longtime Flatbush, Brooklyn, resident and his family had recently moved to Valley Cottage in Rockland County, N.Y.

Romero fled the scene, speeding around the left side of Irvine’s car, across the bridge, and onto the Palisades, Sears said.

On Wednesday, Romero drove his company-owned car to his security job at QVT Financial, where he was located by cops who discovered his license plate was registered to his employer, according to the NYPD.

Police also learned that Romero had been behind the same wheel in a different crash, details of which were not immediately available.

Romero, who was carrying a revolver that he admitted he carried daily when approached by cops, was brought in for questioning and was initially charged with murder by the NYPD. Prosecutors on Thursday said two additional handguns were later found at Romero’s home.

“These are incredibly serious charges, the evidence of the defendant’s guilt is strong, and the prison sentence he’s likely exposed to is substantial,” Sears said in court. “The defendant left the scene, he did not call 911, and he did not turn himself in.”

Romero retired from the NYPD in 2001 after joining the force in 1994. He left with a disability pension after he was shot in the wrist and chest during an off-duty shootout with three gunmen who tried to rob his family’s Brooklyn laundromat.

Romero’s lawyer, Alan Abramson, said in court Thursday his client had been a “heroic police officer” who had a “sterling” record with the NYPD.

The lawyer pushed back on the prosecution’s assertion that Romero didn’t turn himself in. “He was asked to come in, and he did,” Abramson said.

Abramson said Romero, who wore a white shirt and brown slacks to court, was “a responsible person,” married with four kids and is a lifelong New York resident, barring a brief time living in the Poconos. He’s worked in private security jobs since leaving the NYPD and Abramson said Romero’s current employer “stands behind him” after the incident.

Reached for comment, QVT Financial said it was aware of press reports concerning Romero and was cooperating with authorities.

“He’s not charged with murder,” the lawyer said Thursday. “Many, many elements of this case are up in the air.”

Queried by The News, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office declined to comment on prosecutors’ reasoning for downgrading the murder charge beyond what was said in court. Under New York law, someone is guilty of first-degree manslaughter if, with the intent to cause serious physical injury, they cause someone’s death.

Romero could face up to 25 years in prison if convicted.

Keith White, an attorney representing Irvine’s family, cast doubt on the lack of surveillance footage of the shooting and said Romero should be charged with murder because of “the degree of callousness, recklessness.”

“And this should rise to the earlier point of intent, because when you shoot somebody at that close range, on a busy road, on a bridge, that person can then harm other people. The damages cascade,” the lawyer said.  “Clearly, this is not an individual with a temperament that should be carrying a concealed weapon. And the fact that he fled even more so is even more egregious.”

Irvine’s younger sister, Zeriah Irvine, 31, said it was hard to sit through the arraignment.

“I was fuming. I was shaking. I was shaking to look at the back of the head of the man that killed my brother, and then have his lawyers humanize him when he left my brother to die like a dog,” she said, later driving home the weight of her brother’s passing.

“We lost our father. My dad died at 60, and now my brother’s dead at 47. The last man to carry his last name is his 11-year-old son.”

In addition to the mammoth bail sum, Judge Kevin McGrath on Thursday ordered Romero to surrender his passport. He is due back in court October 27.

With Colin Mixon