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Prosecutors described an alcohol-fueled brawl that escalated into some of the worst violence ever witnessed at the St. Patrick's Day Parade in its more than two centuries-old history.

Then Manhattan District Attorney Robert M. Morgenthau said the beating capped a day of drunken street battles between rival groups of teenagers from the Bronx and Brooklyn, but said investigators were unsure what had sparked the brawl. However, at trial, prosecutors said the fight was started by several groups of drunken teenagers near the parade route.

Sarti, a senior at Herbert H. Lehman High School in the Bronx, was caught in the middle of the fight and tried to escape by breaking out of the brawling crowd,'' Morgenthau said according to the New York Times. ''Andrade, a number of others in his group, chased Sarti, grabbed and beat him and knocked him to the ground. Andrade, who was wearing boots, kicked Sarti in his head.''

Andrade pleaded not guilty to the charges as his lawyer questioned why his client had been singled out for murder charges. ''I can't understand how one person can be charged in a gang assault,'' Defense Attorney Raphael Scotto was quoted saying at the time.

Then Assistant District Attorney, William Greenbaum, said investigators had uncovered evidence that Andrade had stood over Sarti after the beating and according to witness testimony, was heard repeating lines from the Chazz Palminteri film, "A Bronx Tale,” including, “Look at me, I want you to know who did this to you.''

Since Andrade's acquittal, a wrongful death civil lawsuit was filed in 1998 on behalf of the Sarti family, and was settled. Andrade filed an $8 million lawsuit against the City of New York for false arrest, but that suit was later dropped.

Since the attack, police say they have stepped up security efforts at the parade and have vowed not to tolerate any drinking as plainclothes officers scour the parade route every year, ready to break up any altercation that may occur.

Nonetheless, in the years since Michael's passing, the Sarti family says time has not healed all wounds as they continue to struggle with a senseless death relived with each passing St. Patrick's Day. They hope their story of pain and loss has helped save another family from suffering the same fate.

In the meantime Patricia Sarti says she finds solace in her only grandchild.

"I have an 8-year-old granddaughter who has been my lifesaver," she said. "Had my son survived, I'm sure I would have had more grandchildren."

Even after all these years, the grieving mother says she has yet to receive an apology from the men involved in her son's beating death, even though she knows it will never bring Michael back.

Each night before preparing for bed, Patricia Sarti wraps a picture of her son with a rubber-band to the palm of her hand and will do so, she says, for the rest of her life.