Keith Levine didn't have to stop his car as he drove home to New City from midtown Manhattan early one December morning in 1991.But Levine, 27 and
already a sergeant in the New York City Police Department, saw what his trained eye knew was a holdup in progress at a bank cash machine.
"My boy did what he was trained to do," said his father, Michael, a retired Drug Enforcement Agency agent. "Protect and serve — on duty or off-duty — that was my boy."
Levine instructed the two friends in the car with him to stay put while he drew his service weapon and went after the robber.
The Rockland native was shot twice at close range in a gun battle with the suspect and died on a New York City street.
Now, 19 years later, his family is fighting to keep the man convicted of killing New York City police Sgt. Keith Levine behind bars.
Michael Levine received a letter from the state Board of Parole in mid-December that his son's killer, Michael Alston, was due to appear before the board later that week.
The family had never gotten such a letter from the state before even though Alston has been in front of the parole board twice before. Michael Levine fears that the notification is a signal that Alston might be released.
He lobbied and succeeded in getting Alston's appearance before the board postponed until March. He and other family members plan to make a victim's impact statement to the board in February.
While they wait, the Levine family is reaching out to the law enforcement community and the general public to try to pressure the parole board and state to keep Alston, a three-time convicted killer, in prison.
Liana Levine's voice trembles with rage at the thought that the person who killed her son might be released.
"How can this animal — for lack of a better word — be free to see the light of day after what he did?" the Bardonia resident asked. "He killed my son, he destroyed my life, he destroyed my family and so many other lives. We can't let him out ever again."
Even though Michael Levine has spent his life in law enforcement , he still can't understand how release could ever be an option for the man who killed his son.
Alston had a record of arrests starting in his teens.
When he encountered Keith Levine on Dec. 28, 1991, Alston had been out of jail just a couple of weeks after serving 11 years on two manslaughter convictions.
"Every time he's been free, he's killed," said Michael Levine, who now lives in Ulster County. "If the parole board lets him out, it will be like their hands are on the trigger, too."
Alston pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in return for a sentence of 15 years to life — shorter than the 25 years to life he could have received. Prosecutors offered the lesser sentence because another man was originally arrested and charged in Levine's death but then released and they were worried that they wouldn't get a conviction.
Keith Levine's sister, Nicole Marks, is a computer specialist who lives in New City with her husband and their six children — including a son named in memory of the uncle he never knew.
She is using social networks to build support for keeping her brother's killer in jail.
One group she discovered on Facebook, Law Enforcement Today, shared information about the death of Keith Levine and coming parole hearing for Alston and posted a link so supporters could send an e-mail message to the board and state officials.
In only a couple of days, more than 600 people indicated that they did so, Marks said.
Other police officers — some who knew her brother and some who didn't — have also contact her to show their support.
"The response from so many wonderful people has been heartwarming," she said. "To see that law enforcement considers Keith a brother and they won't forget him is so appreciated."
Clarkstown police Officer Thomas Doyle knew Keith Levine and his brother Matthew, now an air marshal, when they were growing up in Bardonia.
"Keith was a son of Clarkstown," Doyle said. "We'll do anything we can to make sure he didn't die in vain and that his contribution is remembered."
Doyle has been in contact with the Levine family to offer help.
"The family doesn't stand alone," he said. "They will always be part of the police community."
David Nicholson was Keith Levine's good friend and partner on the police force. He recalled that they both made sergeant at a young age and loved their jobs.
In 1986, the two young cops made headlines when they delivered a baby in a midtown hotel lobby.
Nicholson, who lives in Suffern, has became a lawyer and now serves as an attorney to the New York City Police Benevolent Association.
He is also working to involve the NYPD in efforts to keep Alston in prison.
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