A local rapper convicted of shooting and killing a female police officer nearly 20 years ago will live to see another day -- and then some -- thanks to a stay of execution granted by a Philadelphia judge.
Christopher Douglas Roney, a.k.a. Cool C, 45, was scheduled to be executed by lethal injection on Thursday, Jan. 8, 2015 after an execution warrant was signed last November by Gov. Tom Corbett.
In December, Roney, best known for the late 90s hit "Glamorous Life," was granted an emergency stay of execution by Philly Judge L. Felipe Restrepo.
Roney was found guilty of the murder of Philadelphia Police Officer Lauretha Vaird on Oct. 30, 1996. Two days later, he was sentenced to death.
Early on the morning of Jan. 2, 1996, Roney and fellow rappers Ernest Canty and Warren McGlone were attempting to rob a PNC Bank at 4710 Rising Sun Avenue in Philadelphia when Officer Vaird, a 43-year-old single mother of two boys, arrived on scene. As she entered the bank, Roney opened fire, striking her in the abdomen. All three men ran from the scene, according to officials. Roney continued shooting as he ran to a getaway car, police said.
Following eyewitness accounts, Canty and McGlone confessed to the crime and identified Roney -- who continues to maintain his innocence -- as the shooter.
This is Roney's second stay of execution. His first was in 2006.
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Vaird was the first female officer to be killed in the line of duty in Philadelphia.
