In an Instant

mumtahw
Sep 18
4 min read

On August 8, 2024, just two weeks after his fourteenth birthday, Jac Antonio Cortes was plowed down on the side of a busy road in broad daylight, witnessed by horrified passersby. He was simply going about his day, relishing the warm and misty summer afternoon with a friend. Then in an instant, everything changed forever.

Humanizing Jac

Jac was a typical teenage boy.

He enjoyed sports, loved to pass time playing video games, and was serious about his sneaker collection.

Maybe a little less typical for a junior high schooler, he was always smiling and full of life, and showed empathy towards his peers. It was natural for him to notice when they needed comfort.

He also liked to fish and was learning Spanish, as it was one of his ancestral languages.

Everyone from relatives to school officials not only loved Jac — they liked him — which really tells all you need to know about this young man.

Jac was not only a beloved son, friend, and student – he was also an Indigenous youth of the Ramapough Lenape and Utuado, Native American tribes most often misidentified as solely Hispanic or other races.

The Day of the Crash

On the fateful day, Jac was riding home on a pink bicycle to grab his wallet. He and a buddy were traveling on Vassar Road.

According to his father, Juan Cortes’ account of what he heard from witnesses and viewed from recordings, his son was traveling in the designated bike lane on the left side of the road, against the flow of traffic.

Jac passed in front of a residential camera then out of view, and a mere moment or two later the driver accused of hitting him came into view, appearing to not have readily stopped or slowed.

Emergency Response

A short time later, emergency medical transport arrived and whisked the young man away to the hospital.

Though medical staff worked on him for approximately one hour, Jac could not be saved, thus he succumbed to his injuries.

Injustice Unfolds

The incident alone was a tremendous, unforeseen tragedy, destined to linger on the mangled hearts of his loved ones for decades to come.

However, the worst part had just begun.

While attempting to have questions answered, the Cortes family quickly realized that law enforcement did not intend to investigate this vehicular death appropriately. In fact, they were blaming the accident on their child — the young law abiding cyclist who was abiding by the rules — claiming that he was not struck by any vehicle, but rather had arbitrarily fallen onto the road for some unspecified reason.

Police Failures

Further adding to the insult, the Corteses learned that the police officers allowed the motorist to leave the scene without questioning until three hours later when they visited his home. That allowance was found by the family to be highly problematic, as it left ample time for any evidence to be erased.

As time went on, more serious issues were discovered:

The police case was closed prematurely without — in the family’s estimation — a thorough investigation.
The police report made no mention of the bicycle at all, including the fact that the front wheel was obviously damaged and buckled.
The bicycle was returned to the family within a few days, signifying no further investigation would take place.
Testimonies from witnesses, including Jac’s friend who was with him, were unjustifiably dismissed, and not included in the report.
The motorist’s name was left out of the report.
While being recorded on a police body cam, one officer allegedly stated to another that the motorist was a relative of a member of law enforcement.

The Family’s Fight for Justice

For more than a year the parents and family of Jac Cortes have been fighting for justice for their slain son, to no avail. Not even a charge of vehicular manslaughter (NY Penal Law 125.1) has been attributed to the driver who, evidently, killed a child by striking him with a truck and/or attached trailer.

Why are the Corteses being ignored?

Why was the motorist allowed to leave the scene then not be held accountable?

Why is justice for Jac being denied?

Is this a blatant cover up of an obvious crime??

In Closing

Mr. and Mrs. Cortes believed they would be sending their child off to his freshman year of high school earlier this month.

Instead, they are crying at his gravesite, unable to truly grieve without closure and fair retribution from the law.

We cannot allow this incident and others like it to be hailed as acceptable behavior.

Call to Action

To find out more information and learn how you may support the Cortes family please visit the Justice4Jac Facebook page.

Jac Antonio Cortes was not only a son, a friend, and a student — he was of Ramapough Lenape and Utuado descent, the latter being "the most Indigenous part of Puerto Rico". His story belongs within the ongoing crisis of Missing and Murdered Indigenous People (MMIP), a reminder that Indigenous lives continue to be cut short and too often denied justice.

Resources (bulleted list works best online)

M. Ansari 2025