Clergy and mourners began arriving in East Harlem before 9 a.m. on June 28 for the funeral of Montrell Williams, 2, whose father stands accused of the boy’s murder.
The press was not permitted inside the small, private service, but afterwards, Bishop Boyde Singletary, Pastor Cheryl Singletary and Reverend Kevin McCall were among those who carried the boy’s small white casket from the funeral home into the hearse, chanting, “Justice for who? Montrell!”
“We lost a child again. When is this gonna stop?” said Cheryl Singletary following the service.
She said Montrell’s mother and family were “staying so strong” but are demanding accountability from the NYPD and family courts they blame for not treating the boy’s disappearance with urgency.
Montrell had been visiting his father, 20-year-old Arius Williams of Hunts Point, on Mother’s Day weekend—May 10—when Williams failed to return the child to his mother. According to the child’s family and clergy, NYPD treated the situation as a custody issue, not a missing person’s case, and Montrell’s mother was referred to family court.
On May 12 Montrell’s mother filed a petition in Family Court seeking his return. A judge issued a warrant on May 28, ordering Williams to produce the child.
The boy had been missing for a month when his body was finally pulled from the East River on June 11. Surveillance footage showed Williams allegedly picking up his child, who was alive, and throwing him into the river from a Bruckner Expressway overpass. Williams had allegedly already confessed the crime to the boy’s mother on June 8.
“If the police had done their job, [Montrell] would be here,” said Cheryl Singletary.
McCall said the child’s mother, who is 17, should’ve been celebrating her high school graduation this weekend. Instead, “She graduated on Friday. She had to bury her child on Saturday.”
He and his fellow clergy members plan to press for a street co-naming in Montrell’s honor while helping the family pursue possible legal options against the police and family courts.
“The NYPD neglected this family,” said McCall.
Reach Emily Swanson at eswanson@schnepsmedia.com or (646) 717-0015. For more coverage, follow us on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram @bronxtimes
