Mom asks officials to reopen son's case, charge man responsible for murder

A mother is calling on officials to reopen her son's case and charge the man responsible with murder.

News 12 Staff

Apr 23, 2020, 9:32 PM

Updated 1,463 days ago

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A mother is calling on officials to reopen her son's case and charge the man responsible with murder.
Steven Augustine, 32, fought on life support for two years before recently coming down with coronavirus-like symptoms.
His mother, Donna Augustine, says the father of two died in the hospital Friday after suffering from COVID-19 symptoms and developing a severe infection caused by his feeding tube.
Steven Augustine had been in a coma and on a ventilator since he was attacked two years ago.
The man responsible - Charles Miles - served a year behind bars after pleading guilty to misdemeanor assault.
"I can't believe they allowed him to do something like this to my son and get away with it," Donna Augustine says.
Donna Augustine says her son's case was mishandled by Kingston police and the Ulster County District Attorney's Office. She alleges they covered for Miles because he was a confidential informant and says prosecutors insisted her son was only punched once in the face, despite his visible injuries.
"My son was robbed, beaten and murdered," she says. "Nobody has reopened his case. Nobody's looked at it again. They just keep ignoring me."
As she prepares to bury her son, Donna Augustine says she's dedicated her life to seeking justice in the hope that what happened to her family doesn't happen to someone else.
"It could be somebody else's kid next time. It just can't be allowed," she says.
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