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Friday, July 8, 2011

NY: Video shows fight that resulted in stabbing death of Bx. football player



Video of Fight That Ended with Death of Football Star Isayah Muller: MyFoxNY.com



Everyone was stunned after Isayah Muller, a promising young Truman High School football star, was stabbed to death just hours after his graduation on June 28, 2011.

There was outrage after his father, Andre Muller, was arrested and charged with starting a fight, but the man who fatally stabbed Isayah was not arrested.

The fight at a parking lot in the Bronx between was over a $200 bottle of cologne -- a graduation gift that went missing from the family's car.

Police maintained Isayah's dad was the aggressor. But some didn't want to believe it.

Now, Fox 5 has obtained the video that clearly shows what really happened.

The video is from a surveillance camera inside the parking lot booth. Fox 5 was asked to conceal the faces of the employees because their lives have allegedly been threatened.

You can see the parking attendants speaking with Isayah's father, Andre. He is standing at the entrance, had accused the employees of stealing the cologne.

They talk, there is some gesturing, and things appear to escalate. The attendants even let Andre look inside their personal backpacks and search the drawers.

One of the attendants then gets on the phone. Sources told fox 5 he was calling 911.

You can also see Andre's pregnant wife, Rosa, at the door. She is just inches away from her husband, but as soon as she steps away, that's when it gets out of control.

Suddenly Andre throws the first punch. The attendant loses his balance from the force but does not strike back and stays on the phone.

A second attendant also does not fight back.

Isayah appears in the doorway, still wearing his tie from graduation.

Seconds later, his dad picks up a bicycle and apparently tries to throw it. The attendant attempts to shut the door, but you can see Isayah pushing it back open.

Then his father charges in with a snow shovel in hand. He starts swinging at both attendants. One attendant picks up a chair to fend him off. The other attendant picks up a machete.

Andre then backs away and closes the door. But seconds later, Isayah busts through the door with Andre right behind him.

It's an all-out brawl: father and son swinging away at the attendants, one attendant still brandishing a machete during the melee.

You see Isayah on top of the other attendant, punching him. Police say the attendant then used a homemade knife and stabbed the 19-year-old in the chest.

The NYPD arrested Andre and charged him with assault and weapons possession. He pleaded not guilty.

Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly appeared on Good Day New York last week and said that the attendants, who were not arrested, were acting in self defense.

Thursday was time for more grieving for Isayah's family. The athlete's funeral was attended by hundreds, including fellow students, teammates and family members.

Andre, who is out on bail, stood by his wife as his son's coffin was carried into the hearse.

Family members were passionate in their defense of Andre.

"I know that my uncle is not guilty for what he did," said Nancy Muller, a cousin. "He was protecting his son. That was out of self defense."

But the video appears to show why police arrested Andre for assault and weapons possession, and blame him for starting the fight that led to his son's death. Police sources also point to his extensive criminal record.

Andre did two lengthy stretches in prison: one from 1992 to 1997 for armed robbery and another from 2000 to 2006 for selling heroin to an undercover cop.

Even so, some of Isayah's relatives and friends have started an online petition calling for charges against the parking lot attendants. A spokesperson for the parking lot said they are expressing their deepest sorrow for the senseless incident that resulted in the death of Isayah and that they are cooperating fully with police.

Clearly there were no winners in this deadly dispute.

"I love him and I miss him so much," Stephanie Muller, a cousin. "I want justice for my cousin so bad."

Sources said the attendants are in hiding and fear for their lives. They are both recovering from injuries.

Andre Muller is due back in court next month.

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