Jose Cepeda

Jose Cepeda, a 20-year-old Hispanic man known for his beaming smile and loyalty, was a devoted father to a young son with another child on the way. Remembered by friends and family for his good vibes and for being a man who took care of his son, his life was tragically cut short in the early hours of July 5, 2020. His death was the first in a wave of gun violence that swept through New York City over a bloody post-Fourth-of-July weekend.

Just before 12:45 a.m., a dispute erupted on Atkins Avenue in the East New York section of Brooklyn, right outside Jose's home. According to his mother, Rosemary Negron, and neighbors, the conflict began when Jose came to her defense during a confrontation. The man harassing her, who was known to the family, allegedly struck Jose in the face. The assailant then left, only to return shortly after with a gun. In the ensuing altercation, Jose was shot once in the chest. Emergency services rushed him to Brookdale Hospital Medical Center, but he could not be saved.

The New York Police Department investigated the homicide and, based on witness accounts including that of Jose's mother, quickly identified a suspect. Police named 36-year-old Sanadoni Bennett, an ex-convict with a prior prison sentence for a weapons conviction, as the man who shot Jose. The argument that escalated to murder was reportedly over an empty apartment in their building that Bennett had been trying to occupy. Negron stated that Bennett had come to their home with two other men and his own 12-year-old son on the night of the shooting.

In the immediate aftermath, Bennett evaded capture and became a fugitive. A year later, in July 2021, the NYPD publicly renewed its call for information leading to his arrest, confirming he was still wanted in connection with Jose's murder. Jose's mother expressed her family's profound grief and frustration, questioning why the men who accompanied Bennett that night were still seen freely in the neighborhood. "It was three people who came to my house to kill my son," she said.

The loss devastated Jose's loved ones. His young son, Orlando, was left to wonder why his father wasn't coming home. "He thinks that Daddy is at the store getting him some juice," Negron shared a year after the murder. "And he keeps asking me why that’s taking so long." On the one-year anniversary of his death, friends and family gathered at Jacob Riis Park, Jose's favorite beach, to remember him and release balloons in his honor.

As of the latest available information from July 2021, the case against Sanadoni Bennett remained open, with law enforcement continuing their efforts to bring him to justice for the killing of Jose Cepeda. The ultimate resolution of the manhunt for Bennett is not publicly documented in subsequent news reports. The case remains a painful and unresolved chapter for a family and community shattered by a moment of sudden, irreversible violence.