Tuesday night I watched the mother of missing Haledon man Felix DeJesus sob at a Paterson City Council meeting. She held a hot pink poster emblazoned with photos of her son and stood in silence next to her family as she cried, taking off her glasses to wipe away the tears.
She listened as her youngest son Giovanni DeJesus spoke at the podium, his voice breaking as he made an impassioned plea for help finding his brother. Alongside them, friends and relatives, holding brightly-colored posters which read “Justice for Felix DeJesus,” were on the verge of tears themselves.
It was a heartbreaking scene live-streamed on Facebook and one that’s played out in public before. The desperate family has repeatedly made appearances at monthly city council meetings to beg for help because it was the city’s own police officers who were the last ones to see him alive. DeJesus has been missing since the cold February night two Paterson Police officers say they dropped him off at Westside Park.
“He went missing in your city, he went missing in your ward...What have you done to try to find him? What have you done?!” asked a visibly frustrated Giovanni DeJesus.
Adding to the distressful moment was the fact that it appeared one of the city council members wasn’t even paying attention to their pleas.
Giovanni DeJesus stopped speaking to sternly ask him to “stop looking at your phone,” and “look me in the eyes.”
It was a moment of blatant disrespect and a gross lack of empathy towards this grieving family that was hard for me to watch even through a screen.
We don’t know exactly what happened and it’s possible we never will, since the officers turned off their body cameras, violating the attorney general’s body-worn camera policy for police. And we may not know whether those officers are ever disciplined. Law enforcement — in this case, the Passaic County Prosecutor’s Office — won’t comment when there’s an “ongoing investigation.” And it seems there always is.
When DeJesus, a 41-year-old father of two, went missing, police initially told his family they had no record of contact with him but later said two officers had detained him after reports that he had harassed a woman at a Paterson bodega. The officers did not charge him and allege they dropped him off at the park, saying he asked to be released there.
And yet the fact remains: DeJesus has now been missing for six months and his family is still in the dark, they’re still in a world of pain. They still don’t know where Felix is or if they’ll ever find him.
Giovanni DeJesus told the council members Haledon Police is offering a $5,000 reward “for information leading to the successful location and physical recovery” of Felix DeJesus. The DeJesus family, he said, is also offering a reward, of $20,000. He implored that Paterson follows suit.
Multiple family members and friends spoke but no one from the city council addressed them during the live stream.
I spoke with Paterson Councilwoman-at-large Lilisa Mimms and Fifth Ward Councilman Luis Velez the day after. Both of them told me their “hearts go out to the family” and said they’re “praying for Felix’s safe return.” And they both agreed Paterson should offer a reward for information about the case.
During Tuesday’s meeting, some attendees had choice words for Velez. Many of them went as far as to hurl profanities at him. When I asked him about it he chalked it up to a misunderstanding he says stems from a situation at a previous meeting and said DeJesus’ disappearance has left “a heavy, gray cloud over the City of Paterson.”
The family’s pain, heartbreak, desperation and even anger are understandable, he said, adding that he’s also been demanding answers and accountability.
He says the two officers who detained DeJesus before he went missing “should definitely be sanctioned, suspended without pay ... prosecuted, for violating the Attorney General’s body-cam guidelines.” And said despite being a local elected official there’s a lot of information involving this case he’s not privy to.
“The administration, the mayor... director of police, chief of police, lieutenant, captain...everyone, they all have to come forward and clarify what happened in this case,” he said.
“We all want Felix DeJesus back. We all want to know what happened. We all want to know what happened after the [police officers’ body] cameras were turned off. We all want the same answers.”
And while that’s likely true, I’m sure there’s no one who wants answers more or as desperately as Felix DeJesus’ weeping mother, Wanda Grullon, who I’m sure won’t stop crying until she has them.
Daysi Calavia-Robertson may be reached at dcalavia-robertson@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Instagram at @presspassdaysi or Twitter @presspassdaysi.
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