UPDATED Nov. 10, 9:35 a.m.
Jurors found a Queens Village man guilty on Thursday of fatally shooting a police officer during a traffic stop two years ago.
Demetrius Blackwell, 37, of 212th Place allegedly shot Police Officer Brian Moore as he and his partner, Police Officer Erik Jansen, approached him in their unmarked police cruiser on the night of May 2, 2015. Moore was struck in the head and died two days later at Jamaica Hospital Medical Center.
On Nov. 9, a jury returned a guilty verdict against Blackwell on charges including first-degree murder, first-degree attempted murder and criminal possession of a weapon. Jurors only spent two hours over two days deliberating before reaching their verdict, Queens District Attorney Richard A. Brown said.
Queens Supreme Court Justice Gregory Lasak is scheduled to sentence Blackwell on Dec. 12; it’s very likely that Blackwell will serve life in prison without parole.
“The evidence of [Blackwell’s] guilt presented at trial was truly overwhelming,” Brown said in a statement. “The jury fairly weighed all the evidence offered by both sides before concluding — unanimously and beyond a reasonable doubt — that the defendant deliberately fired a weapon at the two police officers without provocation or warning, killing one of them. It is likely that he will never again taste another day of freedom.”
Law enforcement sources said Moore and Jansen approached Blackwell on patrol at around 6:15 p.m. on May 2, 2015. They had seen him adjusting his waistband.
When they went to question him, authorities said, Blackwell pulled out a handgun and started firing; Moore was hit twice in the head, while Jansen managed to avoid being injured.
Police located Blackwell hours later after conducting a massive search of the neighborhood.
“The murder of Detective Brian Moore reminds us of the extraordinary danger police officers face every day, protecting this city,” Police Commissioner James O’Neill said in a statement on Nov. 9. “Brian chose this profession to protect others, to do good, and to serve a cause greater than himself. He was murdered doing his job and in defense of every New Yorker. I thank the investigators and prosecutors who worked this case successfully with personal commitment and resolve. To the public who assisted us along the way: thank you for your help in ensuring that this career criminal is removed from the community and not given the opportunity to cause further harm.”
