Wife on mission for justice after husband sucker-punched 6 years ago in Brooklyn dies
NEW YORK -- A man who spent more than six years in a coma after being randomly attacked has died.
The violence shattered a family, and his wife is seeking justice.
Domingo Tapia was once a doting dad, caring for his two boys and wife, Esther Diaz.
"I remember I used to be playing around with him, having fun," one son said.
"Excellent papa, excellent father," Diaz added.
Now, Diaz is leaning on her sons for support.
"Two children, me work," she said.
Since June 2017, her husband had been in a coma after being attacked. Then on Tuesday, Diaz got the call that he had died.
"My family is no good. My kids, no father," Diaz said.
It was a heart-wrenching moment, as police said the attack on Tapia was random. Surveillance video from that night shows Tapia riding his bike on Fulton Street in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, when, out of nowhere, a man punches him in the head and knocks the father of two to the ground, leaving him with a fractured skull.
"One punch. That's it," Diaz said.
Police charged Gary Anderson with assault. He served two and a half years in prison before being paroled in 2022.
Family friend Jamie Gonzales, who has stood by Diaz's side all these years, says Anderson belongs back in jail.
"It's not enough. Now that Domingo is dead, he should be charged with murder," Gonzales said. "She wants justice. She wants the guy to pay for what he did."
Police say whether or not charges will be upgraded will be depend on the medical examiner's report. It must be determined if that punch, even all these years later, resulted in Tapia's death.
Diaz is hoping to get justice, as she focuses on raising her two kids the way her husband would've wanted to.
"Now he's not here, but [he is] in my kids," Diaz said.
