A jury sentenced a man to life in prison without parole after he murdered a New York Police Department officer.
They found habitual offender Tyrone Howard guilty of aggravated murder and first degree murder in the death of NYPD officer Randolph Holder, reports the New York Post.
It took the jury four days to come to the decision, with the panel unable to reach an unanimous agreement on some of the counts.
“We just wanted to do what was right and follow the semantics and the law,” a male juror said.
When the foreman announced the jury’s decision, some of the jurors cried. Holder’s father, a former NYPD cop himself, wiped away tears.
“This is a tragic case and a sad day, but we can’t thank our police officers enough for putting their lives on the line every day,” Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. said in a statement.
Howard fatally shot Holder in the head during a 2015 shootout. Holder came to the scene after responding to a call about gunshots from two gangs. The gangs fled the scene and Holder and his partner chased down Howard.
Howard pulled a gun on them, shooting Holder in the head.
“He knows they’re looking for him and he knows why,” Assistant District Attorney Linda Ford said during the trial. “He took out the gun, the .40-caliber semi-automatic pistol, he aimed at the officers and pulled the trigger.”
Holder died at Harlem Hospital later that night.
“Let us not forget that although we have gotten justice… when this family goes home they realize their son is still not in that house. It does not fix it,” Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association president Pat Lynch said.
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