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The family of slain Burger King cashier Kristal Bayron-Nieves laid eyes on her accused killer for the first time in a Manhattan courtroom Thursday — and called for him to be locked up for life.
Soft sobs from the 19-year-old woman’s broken relatives were the only sounds heard in the gallery as prosecutors detailed the horrific Jan. 9 murder, which Winston Glynn pleaded not guilty to at his arraignment in Manhattan Supreme Court.
“People like this [are] destroying our neighborhoods, are destroying our families and destroying our country,” Kristal’s stepfather Ferdinand Graulau said after the hearing.
“All we want is justice. We want life for him,” Graulau added, putting his arm around Kristal’s mother Kristie Nieves, who was too overcome with emotion to speak.
The family’s attorney Sanford Rubenstein said during the press conference that he was preparing a civil lawsuit against Burger King, where Bayron-Nieves had been employed for three weeks when her life was tragically cut short.
A native of Puerto Rico, Bayron-Nieves moved to the Big Apple six years ago to live with her mom and brother and was saving up for nursing school, friends and family have said.
She was working a late-night shift at the East Harlem fast-food joint when Glynn allegedly stormed in at around 1 a.m., brandishing a gun and demanding money.
The armed robber pistol-whipped the 59-year-old restaurant manager and snatched her cellphone, before hitting a male friend of Bayron-Nieves’ and forcing him into the kitchen, according to prosecutors.
He then “turned his attention” to the young cashier, who forked over all the money in her register — about $100, Assistant District Attorney Dafna Yoran said in court Thursday.
Bayron-Nieves fumbled with the keys of the next register and told the thief “there was no more money,” Yoran continued.
Glynn allegedly “took a step back, aimed his gun directly at [Bayron-Nieves] and fired,” the prosecutor said, adding the bullet went through the teenagers’ chest, heart and lung and came out the other side.
“She managed a few steps to kitchen and then collapsed,” Yoran said, as Bayron-Nieves’ loved ones, including her grandmother, cried or closed their eyes.
Glynn — a 30-year-old homeless man who had worked at that Burger King and another one in Queens years prior — planned the stick-up because he was “out of money,” having used up all his benefits cash, Yoran said.
She described how Glynn allegedly “walked in a zig-zag pattern” to the Burger King and changed his coat inside a nearby subway station to avoid being recognized. He circled the restaurant for 25 minutes before walking in, wearing all-black and a ski mask.
“He has done every possible thing to evade responsibility for his crime,” Yoran said.
After the cold-blooded killing, Glynn chucked the manager’s phone in a subway tunnel and went back to Brooklyn, where he was staying. He got rid of the gun and threw out his backpack and clothing in nearby dumpsters, according to prosecutors.
Police recovered the clothes as well as the phone, which allegedly had Glynn’s DNA on it.
Prosecutors said they “certainly” would not be asking for bail for Glynn, who was remanded into custody until his next court date, June 18. He is facing an indictment charging him with murder, robbery, criminal possession of a weapon and assault.
The alleged killer has been held behind bars since his arrest on Jan. 14, and has a history of outbursts in court.
Nearly a dozen court officers surrounded Glynn, who wore an orange prison jumpsuit and jacket with his hands cuffed behind his back, during the hearing Thursday.
In the gallery behind him, Bayron-Nieves’ mom sat in the second row, turning her head and weeping on Graulau’s shoulder.
“This mother was in court and saw the killer of her beautiful 19-year-old daughter for the first time,” Rubenstein, the family attorney, told reporters.
“She will be in court every appearance that this defendant appears until he is convicted and sent to jail for life without parole.”
Prosecutors said in court they were not offering a plea to a lesser charge in the case. They filed a motion seeking a DNA swab from Glynn, which his Legal Aid attorney, Eric Williams, said he was planning to oppose.
“Kristal Bayron-Nieves had her whole life ahead of her when she was senselessly killed at just 19-years-old,” said District Attorney Alvin Bragg in a statement. “While we can never bring her back, or fill the hole left in her loved ones’ hearts, this indictment brings us one step closer to securing justice for her and for her family.
“New York City is in the midst of a gun crisis, and tackling gun crime with important prosecutions like these is the top priority for my Office.”
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