April 16, 2026 BROOKLYN, NY The contrast couldn’t have been more haunting. On Tuesday, a tiny pink casket was carried through the streets of Williamsburg in a horse-drawn carriage—a final, floral-laden goodbye to seven-month-old Kaori Patterson-Moore. Less than twenty-four hours later, the man accused of stealing her life hobbled into a courtroom to look a judge in the eye and say, "Not guilty."
A Courtroom Spectacle
Amuri Greene, 21, appeared before Acting Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice Danny Chun on Wednesday afternoon, but he didn't walk in. Shuffling on crutches with his wrists cuffed to the wooden supports, Greene’s physical state was a direct result of the chaos he allegedly ignited on April 1.
With his foot heavily bandaged—the souvenir of a high-speed getaway gone wrong—Greene hung his head while his attorney entered the plea. He stands accused of firing the shots that struck little Kaori in the head as her mother pushed her stroller through the intersection of Humboldt and Moore Streets.
"I Didn't Pull the Trigger"
While Greene remains silent behind his legal defense, his alleged accomplice is singing a different tune. Matthew Rodriguez, the man police say was behind the handlebars of the getaway scooter, was seen breaking down in tears during his extradition back to the city.
In a frantic attempt to distance himself from the blood on the pavement, Rodriguez shouted his innocence to anyone within earshot:
"It’s not my fault, I don’t pull the trigger. I promise I didn’t know. I didn’t know he was going to do it... I didn’t know he was going to pull the trigger."
The "accident" that led to their capture occurred moments after the shooting when Rodriguez allegedly slammed the scooter into an oncoming vehicle, launching Greene into the air and snapping his leg.
The Charges: A Mountain of Legal Jeopardy
Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez isn't pulling any punches. After meeting with the grieving family at the hospital, Gonzalez made a vow that is now manifesting in a phalanx of criminal charges.
