Family of 18-year-old Bedford Park resident killed by off-duty Corrections Officer reacts to not guilty verdict

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Dion Middleton, the off-duty New York City Corrections Officer accused of killing 18-year-old Raymond Chaluisant in 2022, was found not guilty on all charges Thursday. Chaluisant's family, including his older brother Jose, say they attended every court day, spending the last two years "seeing the evidence that actually killed him. The clothes he had on. The bullet that went inside his face." But Jose says, when the verdict was read, "we broke down because it's not something we was expecting. We was expecting justice." According to police, in July of 2022, Chaluisant was in the passenger seat of a car near the corner of East 174th street and Morris Ave, when he took out a gel gun, which was a social media trend at the time. Jose says there is no proof whether or not Raymond shot the gun, because there is no way to investigate a gel bead. Claiming self defense, Middleton fired at the car, hitting Chaluisant, and killing him as the car drove away. Jose disputes how threatened Middleton really was, claiming that his shirt had no blood stains on it that night. "You're telling me he shot him just to shoot him? Shoot a tire. Shoot the car," yelled Jose as he explained his case. While Middleton's lawyer's officer said that they could not comment, the Correction Officers' Benevolent Association celebrated the verdict in a Facebook post, saying that they have maintained Middleton's innocence since day one. According to Jose, the jury agreed with them that Middleton had enough reason to fire his gun in self defense. Jose and his family remain unconvinced though, with him saying "we don't sleep, we don't eat, we're not there no more like we used to be after this. Now he's out there like a free person? Pretty much, it was OK for him to kill the guy." Jose says the family is still gathering itself together after the verdict, but hopes to start looking into next legal steps within the next week. "