Central Figures in Sean Bell Case Grieve, and Wait

New York, NY —

It's been over 3 months since police officers fired 50 bullets into a car in Jamaica, Queens, killing 23-year old Sean Bell on his wedding day, and wounding 2 others. A grand jury is expected to wrap up the testimony-phase of the case in the next few days. Soon, it will begin deliberating whether indictments should be handed down on any of the officers. WNYC's Arun Venugopal caught up with 2 of the people at the center of the case: Sean Bell's friend and companion that night, Joseph Guzman, and Bell's fiancée, Nicole Paultre-Bell.

REPORTER: Joe Guzman still needs a wheelchair to get around, but he's hoping to change that. In addition to meeting with doctors three times a week, he's aggressively pursuing a daily regimen of weight-training for his legs, and standing up on parallel bars at home.

GUZMAN: I've still got nerve damage in my foot. I've still got metal rod in my leg. I've still got 6 bullets in me. It's hard, man. Hard work. Therapy. Everything hurts.

REPORTER: But he considers himself lucky, simply for having survived the shooting that left his friend Sean Bell dead. After meeting with the Queens D-A, Guzman sits in the lobby downstairs, wearing a white hoodie. It has Sean's name spelled out in red sequins on the front - one of a series of sweatshirts of various colors that he wears in public.

One day, he says, he hopes there will be a law named after his friend, and maybe even a college. As he speaks, he's occasionally interrupted by Bell's 8-month-old daughter, Jordyn, who sits on his lap.

GUZMAN: (Talks to Sean Bell's daughter, Jordyn) Little girl, you gotta make sure they alright. Right, mami? Right, mami? You gotta make sure that baby's alright (kiss).

REPORTER: Guzman has two boys of his own, and already, he says it's getting hard to deal with the questions.

GUZMAN: My little son knows, but he doesn't really understand. My 12 year old - that's a different story. He understands. I deal with that daily. I remember he came to me and said 'Daddy, am I supposed to hate the police?' No, you're not supposed to hate the police. I don't want that. But these are the kinds of questions he asks.

REPORTER: After Sean's death, Nicole decided to take his last name. She's now Nicole Paultre-Bell. She still lives at their old place in Far Rockaway, but now, she has to raise Jordyn and her 4-year-old Jada by herself.

NICOLE: Jada, she asks for daddy every day. It's hard. She sees things on TV. She can't quite understand. She asks 'Why doesn't he come home.' I say he's with god now. He's an angel. You can't see him but he's there.

REPORTER: Sean was killed just as he was getting serious about his future. After several minor runs-in with the law, he had decided to return to baseball. In high school, he had been a star pitcher, but he left the sport - and college - after Jada was born. Last year, Nicole convinced him give it another shot, and he was getting ready to try out for the minor leagues.

NICOLE: We were planning to move. It would've been the end of this year, we were going to move out of state. Start a new life somewhere else. Maybe in the South. That was our plan. Just get on our own feet.

REPORTER: She says the community and her family have stepped into the breach.

NICOLE: People say 'It's going to be okay.' I just don't know if it will be okay one day. I try to be strong for the girls. It's really hard, especially with Jada. She asks so many questions. And me, I'm still young, so it's hard to answer most of her questions.

REPORTER: Both Nicole and Joseph Guzman have been vocal, since the beginning, about the need for a legal resolution to Sean Bell's death. And these days, Guzman is hopeful things will work out his way.

GUZMAN: I'm bracin' - right now? I'm bracing for indictment. I can't see nothin' else. I don't know what'll go through my mind if we don't get indictment. I want it bad.

REPORTER: The five officers who took part in the shooting have been testifying to the grand jury this week. Tomorrow, officer Michael Oliver, who fired 31 of the 50 shots, is expected to testify. He'll be followed by the final person to take the stand, an expert witness on police tactics and firearms. Lawyers have said the grand jury will probably decide by mid-March whether to hand out any indictments. For WNYC, I'm Arun Venugopal.