Ferrer, wearing beige jail scrubs, entered the plea before Justice Alvin Yearwood. He faces murder, attempted murder, manslaughter, assault and weapons charges. Yearwood ordered him held without bail and set his next court appearance for Nov. 17.

Jacob, the son of retired NYPD Detective Sgt. Jesus Freytes, had biked to Wanda Deli Grocery on Elliott Place near the Grand Concourse in Mount Eden to buy a ball when gunfire erupted during a street dispute outside the store, authorities have said. Surveillance footage showed the boy clutching his chest and staggering back into the bodega after he was struck. Two men were also wounded in the shooting.

Jacob’s mother, Migdalia Martinez, dabbed her eyes with a tissue as she watched Ferrer in court for the first time, surrounded by about a dozen family members. She wore a T-shirt emblazoned with photos of herself and her slain son. 'I just wanted him to see how I felt, what he left me with. I feel like a shell. I carry a burden,' she said. 'I don’t feel like I deserve this.'

Outside court, Martinez said seeing Ferrer in person was different from having previously seen him on the streets. 'Whether I’ve seen him before or not, it’s a lot different when you see them after they committed something like that to someone you love,' she said. She criticized what she described as his effort to delay consequences: 'He’s trying to buy time. The system is just messed up. This is just a mockery to him. From his point of view it was an accident, but hey, as long as I don’t do life it’s fine.'

Before the hearing, Yearwood ruled that a photographer could photograph Ferrer inside the courtroom, rejecting a defense bid to keep cameras away. 'This was an incident that was allegedly on video,' the judge said. 'Even I, as a Bronx resident, saw the video.' He added that he did not see prejudice in photographing the defendant and said, 'this court believes in the public’s right to know.'

Yearwood also warned Jacob’s grieving relatives that the case could drag well into next year. 'You’re welcome to come to every single court date, but understand you’re not getting a trial before the end of this year because unfortunately we have a lot of cases that we have to work through,' he said. Ferrer, who has at least a half-dozen prior arrests dating back to 1999, is due back in court Nov. 17.