The man accused of murdering a college student during Brooklyn’s J’Ouvert festival in 2016 may have just caught a break — thanks to a pair of bloody sneakers discovered in an old evidence box.
Regenald Moise has spent the past two years at Rikers Island awaiting trial in the shooting of 22-year-old St. John’s University student Tiarah Poyau, who told him to quit grinding against her just before taking a bullet through the eye at the wild event.
Moise was found with what cops believe to be the murder weapon — but claimed to be too drunk to remember whether he’d shot anyone.
Now, as Moise prepares to head to trial in October, prosecutors with the Brooklyn District Attorney’s Office have revealed that they recently discovered a pair of untested sneakers, encrusted in dried blood, sitting in an evidence box from the case.
And the shoes belong to another J’Ouvert reveler, James “Forty” Stevens — whose girlfriend once told cops he confessed that he had shot someone that night, a source familiar with the investigation told The Post.
Sources said that in the hours after Poyau was shot, Stevens called his girlfriend in upstate Newburgh and told her he needed new clothes because he had just shot someone. Stevens later showed up at his gal pal’s apartment in clean clothes — but with sneakers splattered in blood, she told cops at the time, according to sources.
The terrified girlfriend turned the shoes over to police, and they were processed by NYPD Detective Michael Rakebrandt, sources said. But the kicks were forgotten after Rakebrandt was placed on modified duty for allegedly discharging a gun in his Suffolk County home, sources said. His weapons case is still pending.
A separate source with knowledge of the case said the Newburgh Police Department investigated the woman’s claims about Stevens saying he shot someone and deemed them uncredible.
Meanwhile, Stevens’ shoes remained forgotten until June 26, when prosecutors informed Moise’s lawyer, Norm Steiner, that they had just discovered them in a box.
Both sides are now awaiting test results to see if the blood matches Poyau’s.
“I don’t know if these people are negligent, lackadaisical, or just corrupt,” Steiner groused of authorities. “The evidence we see in this case is precisely what you would see if you were dealing with a fall guy.”
A spokesman with the Brooklyn District Attorney’s Office would only say Steiner was told about the sneakers after they were discovered by prosecutors.
“As soon as the ADA discovered this information in the detective’s file, he immediately alerted defense counsel to the existence,’’ the rep said.
Stevens could not be reached for comment. Rakebrandt also could not be reached.
Another J’Ouvert reveler, Tyreke Borel, 17, was killed the same night as Poyau. Gov. Cuomo lawyer Carey Gabay also was fatally caught in gang crossfire the year before.
Moise faces up to life behind bars if convicted of murder, reckless endangerment and other charges in Poyau’s death.