Yesterday, before a judge sentenced a 26-year-old man for killing his girlfriend, emotional words from the victim's parents, both NYU professors, brought the courtroom to tears—even the courtroom clerk wiped her eyes and the defense lawyer broke down during her statement. A prosecutor read a statement from Boitumelo McCallum's mother, Teboho Moia: "My beloved Tumi was silenced forever at a young age because she made a wrong choice about who to share her love with... You barehandedly killed my child, your hands are stained forever with her blood."
Michael Cordero pleaded guilty to manslaughter last month for strangling 20-year-old Boitumelo McCallum in August 2007. He left her body in her mother's apartment at Washington Square Village and three days passed before her decomposing body, wrapped in a sheet, was found. Moia's statement also read, “Michael Cordero added insult to injury by making us bury our loved one in unrecognizable image. Her decomposed body is buried and memories of her charming smile live in our hearts. Her infectious laughter and her voice calling out ‘mummy’ still rings in my ears."
Robert McCallum spoke about how his daughter was afraid of Cordero and that he tried to monitor her phone calls, "You made the relationship about power and domination, rather than about love and compassion... That is why Tumi was trying to move away from you... I tried as much as I could to protect her, but you did everything behind my back and that of our family to get to her one final time..."
McCallum also said, "The message is clear to young adults in relationships: Please, tell your parents or loved ones that you are being abused. Up until the last few days of her life, I asked if she had been in contact with you, knowing that you were extremely dangerous."
Cordero was sentenced to 25 years in prison. The DA's office didn't think the murder was premeditated (hence the manslaughter deal) but the Post added this detail about Cordero's actions after killing McCallum: "He unwrapped her enough to expose her hand. He placed in her hand a pair of dog tags she had given him for his birthday, inscribed with both their names, then wrapped her up again."
Cordero said, "I just want to let you know that I’m really sorry. I know it means nothing to you. I don’t expect your mercy and forgiveness any time in this lifetime.... It was just something that happened."
