NYPD Det. Brian Simonsen's widow speaks at sentencing: 'Today, I cannot forgive you'

A Brooklyn man whose attempted robbery led to the 2019 friendly fire death of NYPD Det. Brian Simonsen expressed remorse Wednesday for sparking the events that led to the officer's demise before a judge sentenced him to 33 years in prison.

But relatives of the fallen officer told Christopher Ransom, 30, at his sentencing in Queens Criminal Court, that their pain continues to be crippling.

"I know the Christian thing to do is look you in the eye and forgive you," Simonsen’s widow, Leanne Simonsen, told Ransom in front of a courtroom packed with NYPD officers and other supporters. "Today, I cannot forgive you."

Simonsen’s mother told Ransom the cop was just a teenager when her husband and daughter died a few months apart and that she couldn’t have coped with their loss without his support.

"I miss him telling me ‘I love you,’" Linda Simonsen said. "The grief is overwhelming."

Ransom pleaded guilty on Oct. 20 to second-degree aggravated manslaughter and first-degree robbery in Simonsen’s death.

Queens Criminal Court Judge Kenneth Holder ordered Ransom to serve two 20-year sentences linked to the Feb. 12, 2019, robbery attempt concurrently. Holder ordered Ransom to serve an additional 13 years in prison for an armed robbery Ransom committed a few days before the officer was killed.

Struggling to read a victim impact statement through her tears, Leanne Simonsen said Ransom and his co-defendant, Jagger Freeman of Queens, destroyed the couple’s dreams and robbed her of her joy when they tried to rob a Richmond Hill, Queens, T-Mobile store with a fake gun, she added.

"Your sentence has an ending, but mine will last forever," Leeanne Simonsen said.

Leanne Simonsen's victim impact statement

Ransom apologized to Simonsen’s wife and mother for their loss and vowed to turn his life around.

"I never met the man," Ransom said of Simonsen, "but from what I have heard, he was a true hero."

Ransom’s Legal Aid attorney Mihea Kim told Holder that her client attempted to rob the cellphone store with a toy gun, not a real weapon, and that he never fired a shot during the incident. She said he was shot eight times and had to undergo emergency surgery.

"He will carry physical scars and emotional trauma for the rest of his life," Legal Aid said in a statement released after the hearing. "Despite this, Mr. Ransom is committed towards seeking rehabilitation and redemption. We hope that the NYPD also takes this opportunity to reexamine their own procedures and training so that a tragedy like this never happens again."

Holder described Ransom, who posted photos of him wearing an FBI jacket, a SWAT vest and a police badge on social media and once walked into a precinct house in just his underwear and a cape, as a childish attention seeker.

"Your idiocy has destroyed families," Holder said.

Prosecutors alleged that Ransom, brandishing a black toy pistol, entered the T-Mobile store on 120th Street in Richmond Hill after arriving with Freeman just after 6 p.m.

Responding officers fired 42 shots in about 11 seconds, the NYPD said at the time of the shooting. Simonsen, a 19-year veteran of the NYPD, was fatally shot in the fusillade. Simonsen’s supervisor, NYPD Sgt. Matthew Gorman of Seaford, was also shot in the leg but has since recovered.

NYPD Detectives Endowment Association president Paul DiGiacomo said Simonsen was supposed to have day off when he was killed.

"He went into work and was working on a robbery pattern and because of his dedication he lost his life," DiGiacomo said after Wednesday’s hearing.

Freeman of Queens, who was also charged with murder for his alleged role as a lookout during the attempted robbery, rejected a plea deal that called for him to serve 12 years in prison. He is expected to go to trial next year.

Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz said she hoped the sentence will bring closure to Simonsen’s family.

"I don’t think it brings an end to the family," Katz said. "They will deeply feel the loss of Brian for the rest of their lives."