A Bronx woman won a major battle in the fight to keep the legacy of her mother, a slain NYPD officer, alive, thanks to a resolution the NYC Council passed on Wednesday.
Genesis Villella’s mother, Det. Miosotis Familia, was shot and killed execution-style as she worked an NYPD command post in the Bronx on July 5, 2017. Since then, Villella, 28, legally adopted her two younger siblings, as Familia was a single mother, and took on full parenting responsibilities.
For years, Villella was not entitled to her mother’s death benefits, which are reserved for spouses and parents of slain officers in NYC. But on June 11, the NYC Council unanimously passed a critical home rule message to support what they called “long-overdue pension justice” for the children of Det. Familia, marking the first formal legislative action by the city in support of child survivors of fallen NYPD officers.
Villella thanked the council for closing the loophole in her fight for justice.
“For years, the city my mom grew up in, loved, and protected didn’t love her back. In fact, it tried to erase both her and me,” Villella said. “But my mom is a hero, and will always be the hero of my lifetime, and today that erasure and discrimination ended thanks to Majority Leader Amanda Farias and Speaker Adrienne Adams. This outdated and discriminatory loophole has finally been closed.”
Council Speaker Adrienne Adams called the resolution a “bittersweet milestone” for Villella and her family.
“Det. Familia honorably served our city in the NYPD for 12 years, and we are taking a step towards fixing the injustice faced by her family since she was stolen from them,” Adams said. “With the council’s passage of a home-rule resolution, our colleagues in the state legislature can now enact a state law reforming pension rules so that Det. Familia’s family can access the benefits she earned as a police officer. This can also prevent another family from suffering the same hardships in the future if they lose their loved one in a similar situation.”
Council Majority Leader Amanda Farías, who has been a champion for Villella’s case and led the effort to advance the resolution, spoke about Det. Familia’s sacrifice for NYC.
“This is about justice, for Genesis, and for every family that’s been overlooked by laws that fail to account for real-life responsibility and sacrifice,” Farías said. “Det. Familia gave her life in service to this city, and Genesis gave hers to her siblings. Our system must reflect that.”
The resolution clears the way for state lawmakers to take action. The council will now send it to the NYS legislature, where Sen. Gustavo Rivera and Assembly Member Jeffrey Dinowitz are leading the charge to bring the home rule…home.
“The state now can and should move to pass this law so that Det. Familia’s family can have the peace and support they have always deserved, and this injustice is corrected,” Speaker Adams said.
The resolution echoes Dinowitz’s legislation in the Assembly.
“The city council’s action in issuing a home rule for my legislation is an important step in making sure that not only will all of Detective Familia’s children receive the pension benefit they deserve, but that New York State recognizes all orphaned children of slain police officers in the same way it does surviving spouses,” he said.
Det. Familia was on duty inside a marked mobile command center in the Bronx when a deranged, gun-wielding, cop-hating criminal named Alexander Bonds shot her in the head, killing her almost instantly.
Fellow officers, including Familia’s partner, tracked Bonds down, and shot him dead at the scene. According to an article on NBC New York, Bonds was a convicted felon who could not legally purchase a gun.
Villella was 20 years old when her mother was killed. Without help from extended family, the young woman raised her siblings, twins Peter and Delilah, age 12 at the time, and even quit college to step in as the family’s head of household.
The home rule still has to go through the state’s legislative process, including the State Senate and Assembly, before being officially signed off by Gov. Kathy Hochul.
