A Queens Village man who shot and killed a police officer two years ago will spend the rest of his life behind bars.
Demetrius Blackwell, 37, of 212th Place was convicted last month of first-degree murder for fatally shooting Police Officer Brian Moore of the 105th Precinct on the night of May 2, 2015.
Queens Supreme Court Justice Gregory Lasak ordered Blackwell on Dec. 19 to serve the maximum sentence of life without parole. After sentencing, Newsday reported, Lasak said, “Tell the defendant he has a right to appeal and to get his smirky face out of this courtroom.”
Moore and his partner, Police Officer Erik Jansen, were in an unmarked police cruiser on 212th Street near 104th Place at 6:15 p.m. on May 2, 2015, when they noticed Blackwell walking on the street, motioning toward his waistband.
Law enforcement sources said the officers pulled up along side to question him. Then, authorities said, Blackwell pulled out a black handgun and began firing at the cruiser. Moore was shot twice in the head; Jansen managed to avoid being hit.
Paramedics rushed Moore to Jamaica Hospital, where he died of his injuries two days later. He was posthumously promoted to detective.
Police apprehended Blackwell hours after the shooting during a massive search of the surrounding area. Along with being convicted of first-degree murder, he was also found guilty of attempted murder and criminal possession of a weapon.
“While today’s sentencing cannot heal the prolonged pain endured by Officer Brian Moore’s family, friends and colleagues for their needless loss — or erase the emotional wounds suffered by Officer Erik Jansen and his family — I hope, however, that it will bring some degree of closure and comfort to those individuals whose lives were forever changed on that horrific day,” Queens District Attorney Richard A. Brown said in a statement on Tuesday.
