Woman accused of killing Army vet in 2018 remains free on paltry bail as case lingers

A woman charged in the murder of a US war vet in Manhattan in 2018 has remained free on paltry bail for more than a year as the case drags on —  with her latest hearing Tuesday adjourned over technical issues.

“It’s a disgrace. My stomach is in knots, I can barely breathe,’’ fumed the victim’s mom, Madeline Brame — after anxiously dialing into the hearing expecting to get a long-awaited update in the case.

“My son is dead, and nobody cares,’’ Brame told The Post.

Defendant Mary Saunders, 37, was allegedly caught on video punching and kicking Brame’s 35-year-old son, Hason Correa, and trying to hold him down as her two brothers and a fourth cohort repeatedly stabbed him in front of his father in an apartment-building lobby in Harlem on Oct. 19, 2018. She was charged in November of that year.

One of the blade’s jabs went through the heart of the married dad and Army vet, who had done a tour in Afghanistan.

Correa and his father had reportedly gotten into an earlier dispute with a man in the building — and the guy later returned with back-up and attacked them.

Hason Correa, who was allegedly killed by Mary Saunders and three others in 2018.
Hason Correa, who was allegedly killed by Mary Saunders and three others in 2018.

Saunders is the only one of the four defendants who was freed from jail in 2019 after Manhattan Supreme Court Judge Ellen Biben drastically cut her bail to 10 percent of $120,000 partly because it was her first arrest and she has children. The suspect’s bail had earlier been set at $250,000 cash.

Saunders, who is charged with murder in the second degree and gang assault, was sprung Dec. 23, 2019, after posting $12,000 in cash, according to court documents and a rep for the city Department of Corrections.

Her co-defendants — who each face the same raps as well as attempted-murder and assault charges for allegedly stabbing Correa’s dad, too — remain remanded behind bars.

Saunders was supposed to have a pre-trial hearing Tuesday along with her alleged cohorts: her brothers James and Christopher Saunders and fourth suspect Travis Stewart.

But Manhattan Criminal Court  Judge Althea Drysdale postponed the virtual appearance when a technical glitch prevented her from seeing one of the male defendants on her screen and a defense lawyer sounded choppy in the feed.

“I’m trying my very best. We’re dealing with technology, and technology is not working,” the judge said at one point.

Christopher Saunders, Mary's brother who is also accused of murdering Hason Correa, in the virtual hearing on June 1, 2021.
Christopher Saunders, Mary’s brother who is also accused of murdering Hason Correa, in the virtual hearing on June 1, 2021.
Steven Hirsch

About 12 minutes into the hearing, she added, “We can’t do it this way. We’re not going to have enough time.”

Meanwhile, “My family is re-victimized and re-traumatized every time this trial gets pushed back,” Brame said.

Before wrapping up the virtual conference, Judge Drysdale — who got the case in March — greeted Mary Saunders.

“Hello,” Saunders, dressed in a white cardigan over a pink shirt, cheerily replied to the judge from her lawyer’s office.

Brame later angrily told The Post, “Mary Saunders was there sounding like life was all wonderful for her.

Madeline Brame, the mother of Hason Correa, protesting bail reform on October 19, 2018.
Madeline Brame, the mother of Hason Correa, protesting bail reform on October 19, 2018.
William Farrington

“They all sound healthy and alive. My son is in the ground, and our family is devastated,” said Brame, director of the New York chapter of Blexit, which stands for The Black Exit from The Left.

Correa served in the New York National Guard for two years before joining the Army in 2010. He was deployed to Afghanistan in July 2011 until January 2012, according to Matt Leonard, an Army spokesman.

Correa left behind three children and a wife.

Mary Saunders did not return calls for comment. Her lawyer declined comment.

The defendants’ next court hearing is scheduled in person for June 28.

Be the first to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.


*