By Mark Hallum
Demetrius Blackwell, 37, was convicted of killing NYPD Officer Brian Moore at his murder trial in a Queens courtroom Thursday.
The jury found the Queens Village man was not only guilty of first-degree murder, but also of attempted murder of Moore’s partner, who survived the May 2, 2015 attack, according to ABC7.
Although he was only 25, Moore was already a decorated officer with more than 150 arrests to his credit when he was on a routine patrol in an unmarked car in Queens Village. Moore and his partner, Officer Erik Jansen, stopped Blackwell on 222nd Street because they thought he was carrying a gun. Blackwell fired several shots into the car and hit Moore in the head. Jansen rushed Moore to Jamaica Hospital, where he died several days later.
Police arrested Blackwell, who lived in the area, a couple of hours after the shooting.
In closing arguments in State Supreme Court, prosecutors claimed Blackwell was more concerned over who had won the Floyd Mayweather-Manny Pacquiao fight around the time of the crime than the shooting. He was described as remorseless by Queens Assistant District Attorney Dan Saunders.
Blackwell’s court-appointed attorney, David Bart, argued the defendant was not sound of mind, according to ABC7.
“Mr. Blackwell has seizures and psychosis mixtures that show he was not responsible,” Bart said. “He acted badly, wrongly and stupidly, but it was not intent to kill.”
Blackwell faces life in prison upon sentencing.
Reach reporter Mark Hallum by e-mail at mhall
