A career criminal was convicted Nov. 9 in the murder of Police Officer Brian Moore as he tried to stop the man to investigate what appeared to be a concealed gun.
After five hours of deliberation, a jury found Demetrius Blackwell, 37, guilty of first-degree murder, meaning he could be sentenced to life without parole.
Shot at Partner, Too
The jury also convicted him of attempted murder for shooting at Officer Moore’s partner, Erik Jansen, and of second-degree criminal possession of a weapon. Officer Jansen was not injured.
Officers Moore and Jansen were patrolling in an unmarked car and in plainclothes in Queens’s 105th Precinct on May 2, 2015 when they noticed Mr. Blackwell.
Officer Moore stopped the car and called to him, “Police. You got something?”
“Yeah. I got something,” Mr. Blackwell answered, then drew a handgun and fired three times from five feet away. One bullet struck Officer Moore in the head. The 25-year-old officer died two days later. He was posthumously promoted to Detective.
Lawyer’s Multiple Excuses
Mr. Blackwell’s lawyer, David A. Bart, said his client had struggled for years with epilepsy. He said Mr. Blackwell was misidentified by prosecution witnesses.
But the prosecutor, Daniel Saunders, said Mr. Blackwell’s DNA was found on a cartridge in the revolver used in the shooting.
Police officers attended the trial every day, and so did Officer Moore’s father Ray, a retired NYPD Sergeant.
“Brian Moore became a New York City police officer for the same reason his father did, to rid the streets of vicious criminals,” said Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association President Patrick J. Lynch. “In making the ultimate sacrifice for us, Brian Moore did just that: he took a vicious criminal and his gun off our streets for good. We thank this jury for weighing the facts and finding this miscreant guilty.
“We will always remember and honor Police Officer Brian Moore for his courage and sacrifice.”