District Attorney Melinda Katz charges 22-year-old Jabez Chakraborty despite Mamdani’s insistence on treatment-focused approach
Separation of Powers Tested as Mayor and District Attorney Clash Over Mental Health Response
New York City’s crisis response systems have become a flashpoint in a dramatic separation-of-powers dispute as Mayor Zohran Mamdani publicly demanded that Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz drop charges against Jabez Chakraborty, a 22-year-old man with schizophrenia who was shot by police during a mental health emergency. The case has crystallized the tension between the mayor’s campaign promise to fundamentally remake how the city responds to psychiatric crises and the judiciary’s traditional role in prosecuting crimes, testing whether electoral mandates can override prosecutorial independence. The confrontation represents one of Mamdani’s earliest governance challenges as he seeks to deliver on his signature mental health reform agenda while respecting constitutional boundaries governing executive, judicial, and law enforcement relationships.
The Facts Behind the Shooting and Charges
On January 26, Chakraborty’s family called 911 requesting medical assistance for their son who was experiencing an acute mental health episode. Body camera footage shows officers arriving at the family’s Briarwood, Queens home and encountering Chakraborty holding a large kitchen knife in the family kitchen. Despite officers’ repeated commands to drop the weapon and family members’ pleas, Chakraborty advanced toward police. Officers fired multiple shots, leaving him hospitalized with severe gunshot wounds and still recovering from multiple surgeries. Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz filed charges of first-degree attempted assault and fourth-degree criminal possession of a weapon, holding Chakraborty on $50,000 cash bail despite his severe injuries. Legal Aid Society attorneys representing Chakraborty noted he remains shackled to his hospital bed while the case proceeds.
The Mayor’s Moral and Policy Objection
Mamdani has argued forcefully that prosecuting Chakraborty perverts the purpose of the criminal justice system. The family called 911 for medical help, the mayor emphasized, not police intervention. A person experiencing a severe mental health crisis does not require prosecution; he requires compassionate treatment and support. “What Jabez needs is mental health treatment, not criminal prosecution,” Mamdani stated repeatedly. He instructed his legal team to review the body camera footage and, after viewing it, concluded that criminal charges were inappropriate. He noted the parallel to another tragic case: Win Rozario, a 19-year-old Bangladeshi immigrant killed by police responding to a mental health emergency call in 2024. Both incidents began with families requesting ambulances and resulted in fatal or near-fatal police shootings.
Prosecutorial Discretion and Democratic Accountability
District Attorney Katz defended her prosecutorial discretion without directly engaging the mayor’s arguments. She questioned what happens if the city takes “no action” and Chakraborty harms someone in the future. However, Mamdani’s position is not that action is inappropriate, but rather that action should be medical and mental health focused rather than criminal. The case poses a direct challenge to prosecutorial independence without clear resolution mechanisms short of legislative changes. Katz was elected as a prosecutor and bears responsibility for her judgment. Yet Mamdani carries a clear electoral mandate to transform the mental health crisis response system. The Human Impact Institute published analysis arguing that criminal prosecution in mental health crises represents institutional failure, not accountability. For mental health resources visit National Alliance Mental Illness. District attorney information available at Queens District Attorney. Mental health advocacy at Coalition Homeless. Criminal justice reform research from Sentencing Project.
