Dead man's mother criticizes Suffolk judge over sentence for Ramon Lyons, 16

A Melville woman criticized a Suffolk County judge Monday for offering a plea deal three years below the maximum sentence to the teenager who murdered her son in 2021.

Erica Rimmer, mother of shooting victim Luis Cameron Rimmer-Hernandez, said acting state Supreme Court Justice Karen Kerr should not have gone forward with the sentencing of 16-year-old Ramon Lyons after social media videos emerged showing Lyons boasting about the killing from a juvenile detention center.

Lyons, who was 14 years old when he shot Rimmer-Hernandez, 21, six times in his chest and arm, will serve 12 years to life under the sentence agreed to on Oct. 19 for his second-degree murder conviction. The sentence was handed down in Central Islip on Monday.

"How was this plea deal even considered or granted when Ramon Lyons protects other people involved in my son's murder and shows no remorse?" Rimmer asked the judge as she spoke at the sentencing. "Ramon even bragged about this, posting raps to the public on Instagram while taunting my family by stating, 'I show no remorse. It is what it is.' "

Kerr told Rimmer and more than two dozen family and friends who packed one side of the courtroom, many sporting shirts with the victim's likeness and the words "Long Live Cam" on the front and "No Justice No Peace, Vote Republican" on the back, that she was unaware Lyons was posting to social media at the time she offered the plea. Kerr said she learned of the videos through a presentence investigation report prepared by the Suffolk County Probation Department in the weeks since.

"The self-centeredness and insensitivity that you have shown in these posts is not only despicable, but alarming and really drives home the fact that you continue to fail to appreciate the consequences of your actions," Kerr told Lyons.

Defense attorney Matthew Tuohy of Huntington said his client has accepted responsibility and has said he is sorry even if he hasn't done so in "an optimal way." 

Rimmer also expressed concern over how lead prosecutor Frank Schroeder handled the case, saying she believes he didn't fight hard enough to get the maximum sentence.

Speaking at the sentencing Monday, Assistant District Attorney and Homicide Bureau Chief Timothy Gough said prosecutors opposed the sentence and consistently pushed for the maximum 15-years-to-life Lyons could have gotten under current New York State laws.

Legislation adopted by New York State Democrats in 2017 raised the age of criminal responsibility from 16 to 18 years old in New York State. Under Raise the Age, 16- and 17-year-olds charged with felonies are considered adolescent offenders and their cases start out in the youth part of state Supreme or County Court and can eventually be sent to Family Court. It was designed to give juveniles a better chance at rehabilitation, lawmakers said.

At sentencing, Kerr denied a request by Tuohy to grant Lyons youthful offender status, which could have relieved him of having a criminal record following incarceration.

On Aug. 9, 2021, Rimmer-Hernandez, who lived in Dix Hills, drove to Lowndes Avenue in Huntington Station to meet with friends, prosecutors previously said. As he stood on the street around 10:30 p.m., Lyons ran up to Rimmer-Hernandez and fired approximately seven shots from a 9 mm handgun, striking Rimmer-Hernandez six times in the chest and arm, authorities said.

Lyons fled the scene and ran back into his apartment, less than half a mile away, prosecutors have said. He was tracked through surveillance video and made admissions on social media before he was arrested, officials have said.

Rimmer-Hernandez's family members said he knew Lyons, who they believe killed him as part of an initiation process into the Bloods gang.

A letter Gough read to Kerr from Rimmer-Hernandez's grandmother stated that a gang member who ordered the killing is currently incarcerated on unrelated charges. 

Rimmer said when Lyons is up for parole in about 10 years, she will be waiting to speak to the parole board.

"I will be there to make sure that he does not see another day of light," the mother said.

By Grant Parpan

grant.parpan@newsday.com@GrantParpan

Grant Parpan covers Suffolk County courts and federal courts for Newsday. A Long Island native, he joined Newsday in 2022.