Murder Victim's Mom: J'Ouvert Festival Is Brooklyn's Own 'Purge'

CROWN HEIGHTS, BROOKLYN — In the weeks leading up to this year's overnight J'Ouvert parade in central Brooklyn, an annual tribute to the covert celebrations Caribbean slaves used to throw the night before Carnival, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio promised it would be "the safest J'Ouvert ever."

Despite a history of violence surrounding the parade — including gang crossfire that killed Clinton Hill dad-to-be and state government employee Carey Gabay in 2015 — the mayor refused to call off J'Ouvert, which he called "one of the central pillars of New York City." Bill Bratton, head of the NYPD, stood beside the mayor and assured the community that police had learned from the past — that 180 additional spotlights along the parade route and "several thousand officers," including special tails on known gang members, would be enough to prevent the bloodshed this year.

But whatever city officials did to prepare for J'Ouvert 2016, it wasn't enough to save 22-year-old Canarsie resident Tiarah Poyau.

Potash was a recent college graduate and world traveler who was, according to her family, about to accept a dream job offer in Atlanta.

"Her friend begged her to go" to the parade, Poyau's mom, Vertina Brown, said through tears outside court Monday morning. "She did not want to disappoint her friend. That was the type of person that Tiarah was. She was always there for her friends."

Just minutes earlier Monday, Brown had watched as a young man from Ditmas Park named Regenald Moise, 20, his eyes turned down toward the floor and his hands shackled behind his back, was charged by a Brooklyn Supreme Court judge with murdering Poyau. His plea: "Not guilty."

Police and prosecutors will argue in court that Moise pulled out a gun around 4:15 a.m. on Monday, Sept. 5, near 44 Empire Blvd., and shot Poyau point-blank in the forehead.

Moise is facing second-degree murder charges — an indication that the DA's Office has evidence the fatal shooting was not an accident. If convicted of Poyau's murder, Moise faces 25 years to life in prison.

"He deserves to be behind bars for the rest of his life," the victim's mother said Monday.

Initial reports in local and international news outlets, attributed to anonymous police sources, said Moise had been grinding his body against Poyau as the two moved along the parade route. When the young woman rebuffed his advances and told him to "get off," the reports said, he shot her in the head.

Sanford Rubenstein, the high-profile Brooklyn attorney now representing Poyau's family in court, said Monday that he couldn't comment on those details.

Until the full story unravels in court, he said, "Let this tragedy stand for a simple principal: The killing must stop."

Brown, the victim's mother, said she feels betrayed by the city officials who promised J'Ouvert would be safe this year. They said they would protect her daughter, she said. They didn't.

"I believe that they should shut it down," Brown said outside court Monday, encircled by TV news cameras. "If not, at least put some sort of curfew on it. I also believe that they should put police cameras on every single corner. Because this is senseless — it's been going on for too long. The murders need to stop."

"J'ouvert is like a violent 'Purge,' if you will," the grieving mother said, referencing the popular series of horror films. Just like in the films, she said, J'Ouvert has become a one-night outlet for "senseless crazy people" to reek havoc on Brooklyn.

East Flatbush resident Tyreke Borel, 17, was also killed during J'Ouvert this year. The NYPD has yet to identify a suspect in his killing.

Pictured at top: Tiarah Poyau. Photo courtesy of the victim's family