A Bronx mother whose 12-year-old son was killed by a stray bullet has endorsed Republican Saritha Komatireddy for New York attorney general, criticizing incumbent Democrat Letitia James for focusing on national politics instead of local crime.

Migdalia Martinez appears in a new campaign ad backing Komatireddy and speaking about her son, Jacob Freytes, who was shot and killed outside a bodega in July. In the ad, Martinez says four teenagers were shot in the Bronx in one week even as officials called it one of the safest summers on record.

Holding a necklace with Jacob’s photo, she says: “This here is my son, Jacob. He was shot and killed riding his bike to buy a ball. Letitia James has time for national politics, just not for the Bronx.”

Martinez adds that she is “not political” and that she heard in Komatireddy someone who wants change. “Saritha is the only person I’ll vote for,” she says. The ad also shows James alongside New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani.

Jacob, the son of retired NYPD Det. Sgt. Jesus Freytes, was struck by a stray bullet on July 25 outside Wanda Deli Grocery on Elliott Place near the Grand Concourse in Mount Eden. Police say he had ridden his bike to the store to buy a ball when gunfire erupted during a street dispute.

William Ferrer, 45, a man with a lengthy arrest record dating to 1999, was charged with opening fire in that dispute. He later pleaded not guilty to murder and related charges. Martinez has said the justice system works more for criminals than for victims and that she wanted Ferrer to see what he left her with.

Komatireddy, a former federal prosecutor, is challenging James for attorney general. Martinez’s endorsement puts a grieving parent at the center of a campaign argument over whether New York’s top lawyer has paid enough attention to street crime in the Bronx.

Source: New York Post reporting, Sept. 22, 2026.