What to Know
- A judge has dismissed all charges, including a murder count, against former Philadelphia police officer Mark Dial who shot and killed 27-year-old Eddie Irizarry after stopping him for driving erratically in the city's Kensington neighborhood.
- The defense had asserted that Dial was acting in self-defense when he fired his weapon six times at close range within moments of stepping up to the rolled-up driver’s side window of Irizarry’s sedan.
- Members of Irizarry's family filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Dial and his partner.
Murder charges against a former Philadelphia Police officer who was accused of shooting and killing a man in the city's Kensington neighborhood in August have been dismissed.
On Tuesday morning in a courtroom at the Criminal Justice Center, charges were dismissed against Philadelphia police officer Mark Dial, who shot and killed 27-year-old Eddie Irizarry on August 14, citing a lack of evidence.
In court, Philadelphia Municipal Judge Wendy Pew determined the incident to be a justifiable shooting.
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After the verdict was announced, the courtroom erupted as members of Irizarry's family wailed aloud upon learning the ruling.
Outside the courthouse, members of Irizarry's family vowed to appeal the decision. They filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Dial and his partner.
"We are going to continue to fight. We can't stop," said Zoraida Garcia, Irizarry's aunt. "We showed her. It was a murder. That officer used deadly force. The window was up, the door was locked and you shot through the window six times."
"We are going to keep fighting," Nelson Garcia, Irizarry's grandfather told NBC10's Miguel Martinez-Valle. "This is not okay."
On Tuesday afternoon, the office of Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner vowed to appeal, as well.
"The District Attorney's Office disagrees with the decision by Municipal Court Judge Wendy L. Pew to dismiss all criminal charges against defendant Mark Dial for the killing of Eddie Irizarry on August 14, 2023," the office said in a statement. "Special Investigations Unit prosecutors will be filing an appeal of this decision to the Court of Common Pleas by the end of today. In keeping with our oath to seek justice, we will move to have all criminal charges, including Murder, reinstated against this defendant."
Dial's legal team pressed to have murder and other charges lodged against him dismissed when the jailed officer appeared in court for a preliminary hearing Tuesday morning.
The officer was charged with manslaughter, official oppression and four other counts in connection with the Aug. 14 death of Irizarry. Dial's bail was revoked earlier this month after prosecutors argued the charges made him ineligible for release.
Police bodycam footage shows Dial firing his weapon at close range through the driver’s side window of Irizarry’s sedan during a vehicle stop. Dial shot Irizarry about seven seconds after getting out of a police SUV and walking over to his car, the video showed.
Dial fired a total of six rounds.
If Irizarry made any comments to police before he was killed, they aren't heard in the bodycam footage.
Defense lawyers called the shooting justified. They said the officer, also 27, thought Irizarry had a gun and that bodycam footage shows the driver holding a knife by his right leg.
“When police officers ordered him to show his hands, he instead produced a weapon and pointed it at an armed police officer,” lawyer Brian McMonagle told reporters earlier this month. “In no world [are] those facts murder.”
District Attorney Krasner has called the videos “crucial evidence in the case,” saying they “speak for themselves.”
The police department had to backtrack from initial statements that said Dial shot the driver outside the vehicle after he “lunged at” police with a knife. Dial, a five-year veteran of the force, was suspended with the intent to dismiss after officials said he refused to cooperate with investigators.
Irizarry’s family has said that Dial deserves a long prison sentence.
Police officials say the noontime pursuit began when officers saw the vehicle being driven erratically and turning the wrong way down a one-way street before stopping.
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