A soft-on-crime Bronx judge ripped a grieving mom in court before cutting her teen son’s accused killer free without bail, court records obtained by The Post show.
Bronx Criminal Court Judge Naita Semaj on Wednesday refused to delay the arraignment of ex-con Tyresse Minter for just a few minutes so that the heartbroken mom of teen victim Corde Scott could face the accused killer, according to court transcripts.
“What does that have to do with what we’re doing here?” Semaj snapped at Bronx prosecutor Christopher Conway when he asked if the judge could wait for mom Karen Glenn to arrive.
Conway said Glenn was in the hallway outside the courtroom.
“I understand that you might want her to be sitting here in the courtroom, but what does that have to do with the actual task at hand?” Semaj told the prosecutor.
“Judge, our preference would be to wait, because this is a homicide case,” Conway explained.
“Oh, your preference?” the judge shot back.
“Oh, my. You know what? My bad. I completely forgot that your preference actually matters. Are you serious right now?
“I understand you have a preference to have the family members sitting in the courtroom, and that’s wonderful,” Semaj said.
“So, maybe you should ask her to get here sooner.
“Everyone else is here. I am here. And for you to say that the only reason you’re not ready right now is that the mother of the victim hasn’t gotten here yet?” she said.
“If you think for a second I’m going to stop what I’m doing, second call this case for the mother to get here — are you serious?”
Semaj showed more respect for Minter, ordering the ex-con released despite Conway’s request he be held without bail and Minter’s own public defender asking for $10,000 bail.
At one point the judge even halted the proceedings because she feared Minter “looks like he was trying to possibly pass out” when his own lawyer said he was just “trying to breathe deeply.”
Minter, 28, is charged with strangling Scott, his 15-year-old stepson, inside the family’s Bronx apartment on Jan. 23, and was being arraigned on manslaughter and negligent homicide charges.
He was already on parole after serving state prison time on a 2019 felony assault conviction for pistol-whipping the victim and shooting him three times in the back, prosecutors said.
He had only been released from prison a month before the teenager’s strangulation death.
In court, Conway said Minter even admitted to restraining the boy for several minutes, killing him.
“This defendant admitted, in a Miranda interview, the evening of his stepson’s death that he wrapped his arms around his stepson’s chest and rib cage, forcing the head downward while wrapping his legs around the stepson’s mid-section and held him there,” the prosecutor said.
“This defendant also made several statements to civilians, fire department and NYPD personnel which, in part, stated that he placed the stepson in a restraint for approximately 10 minutes,” he said.
“This defendant only called 911 after the stepson’s mother implored him to do so over the phone.”
Minter, who has served two state prison stints, qualifies as a persistent violent felony offender.
According to his own lawyers, Minter also has an unrelated Family Court case where he has been ordered to attend parenting and anger management classes, according to the transcript.
“I do believe it is a neglect case,” Bronx Defenders lawyer Archana Prakash said in court.
Glenn, 35, told The Post she was stunned by Semaj’s kid-gloves handling of her son’s accused killer — and blatant disrespect for the teen’s family in court.
“That judge, she really dropped the ball,” she said.
