The murder trial following the fatal shooting of Saida Bonilla Mejia, 40, of 226 East 203rd Street in Bedford Park began at Bronx Criminal Court on Wednesday, March 13.

 

As reported, Rosvin A. Mejia Castillo, 37, also of 226 East 203rd Street, was arrested and charged in connection with the incident on Saturday, Feb. 10, at 12.15 p.m. at the 52nd Precinct and appeared in court on Wednesday accompanied by his defense attorney.

Mejia Castillo has been charged with murder, two counts of attempted murder, three counts of assault, attempted assault, six counts of criminal possession of a weapon, and two counts of endangering the welfare of a child. Dressed in what appeared to be a beige jumpsuit and white T-shirt, and receiving Spanish language translation of the proceedings through an interpreter, he pled not guilty to the charges.

 

As reported, four days before Valentine’s Day, tragedy struck the Bedford Park community, once again in the vicinity of Valentine Avenue, as Bonilla Mejia, a young mother, was gunned down inside her home in the early hours of Saturday morning, Feb. 10, according to the NYPD.

She died later at Jacobi Medical Center, police said. Two of her children, a teen and a young child, were also shot but were reported to be in stable condition following the incident, police said.

 

As reported, officers from the 52nd Precinct responded to a 911 call on Feb. 10 at around 5.13 a.m. regarding an assault in progress inside 226 East 203rd Street.

“Upon arrival, they observed a 40-year-old woman who had been shot multiple times in the upper torso, a 16-year-old male shot once in the buttocks and an 8-year-old male shot once in the left arm,” an NYPD spokesperson said.

 

“EMS responded to the location and transported the 40-year-old female and 16-year-old male victims to St. Barnabas Hospital and the 8-year-old male victim was transported to NYC Health and Hospitals/Jacobi,” the spokesperson added.

The 52nd Precinct Community Affairs team later reported that Bonilla Mejia had been shot in her throat, abdomen, and upper back and that the incident appeared to have been “domestic related.”

 

Norwood News spoke to the victim’s cousin on the day of the incident. He said, in part, “They killed her? For what?” Read our previous story on the incident here.

 

On March 13, inside the Bronx Criminal Court, the defense attorney for Mejia Castillo requested a restriction on media coverage of the trial, arguing it had the potential to influence the jury (who were not present in court on March 13). Norwood News argued that coverage of the trial was in the public interest and that the incident had been very traumatizing for all concerned.

The presiding judge subsequently ruled that the public interest argument outweighed the possibility of the jury being influenced by media coverage of the trial and spoke of the trust placed in members of the jury in terms of their role.

 

As reported in October 2023, Bronx Borough President Vanessa L. Gibson launched “31 Days of Action Against DV” (domestic violence) to raise awareness of the issue, and the fact that the north Bronx has seen the highest rates of domestic violence in recent years. “We are saddened and outraged by the growing rates of domestic violence incidents that we are seeing in our borough,” the borough president said at the time. “Just as we speak about other forms of violence, we need to also bring visibility to the harm domestic violence is causing in our communities.”

 

Advocates/nonprofits who work on behalf of domestic violence victims have reported that even when police are called to respond to domestic violence incidents, the number of times a victim decides to press charges is often lower than the number of call outs / DV incidents responded to by police. They have also reported that DV victims are often too intimidated to appear in court to give evidence at trial, resulting in fewer convictions.

Back in the courtroom, the prosecuting attorney said discovery items had been shared with the defense team. Discovery is the term used in law to describe the compulsory disclosure of relevant documents between two parties to a legal action. The prosecution also requested that an existing order of protection for the two children who were victims of the shooting be extended. Her request was granted by the presiding judge. The defendant was remanded in custody.

 

Mejia Castillo appeared with both his hands seemingly restrained behind his back while in court, with one arm freed at one point to allow him to sign a document. He is due back in court in June and is deemed innocent unless and until convicted.

As reported, a collection for survivors of domestic violence was recently organized for a local Bronx women’s shelter as part of a “Galentine’s Day” event. Read more on the topic of domestic violence here, including some emotional stories shared during the latest Annual 5K Walk/Run/Roll hosted by the Office of the Bronx District Attorney Darcel Clark last October.

 

The Bronx District Attorney’s domestic violence unit can be reached on (718) 838 6688 and provides confidential support and services to those affected by domestic violence.

Anyone with information regarding this incident is asked to call the NYPD’s Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477) or for Spanish, 1-888-57-PISTA (74782). The public can also submit their tips by logging onto the CrimeStoppers website at https://crimestoppers.nypdonline.org/, or on Twitter @NYPDTips.

All calls are strictly confidential.

 

Editor’s Note: In an earlier version of this story, it was incorrectly reported that the defendant was due back in court in April. This has since been updated to June. We apologize for this error.