What to Know
- Officer Randolph Holder was gunned down in the line of duty Oct. 20, 2015
- The five-year veteran of the force was shot in the head in East Harlem during a chase
- Tyrone Howard had faced murder and robbery charges in his death
A man has been convicted of murdering a 33-year-old NYPD officer during a chase in East Harlem more than a year ago.
The jury returned the guilty verdict against Tyrone Howard Monday after four days of deliberations in the case of Randolph Holder, who was killed Oct. 20, 2015 as he chased the wanted criminal on a pedestrian overpass over the FDR Drive.
Howard was found guilty on all counts, including aggravated murder and first-degree murder as the top charges. He faces life without prison when he's sentenced April 3.
Holder's family was in the courtroom as the verdict was read. They stood next to PBA President Pat Lynch as he addressed reporters after the verdict, but declined to speak themselves. The fallen officer's mother and fiancee wiped away tears.
Police officers who had been attending the trial cheered as the verdict was read.
"These police officers lost a brother. Today we get justice," Lynch said.
Holder's partner, Omar Wallace, testified that he recognized Howard from a drug arrest a year earlier and approached him in a non-confrontational way. Howard jumped off the bike so fast Wallace thought he was going to run. But instead, he yanked a semi-automatic handgun from his sweatshirt and opened fire.
"The first shot hit Officer Holder on the right side of his head. He fell immediately," Wallace testified.
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Jurors watched camera footage of the chaotic scene that unfolded on a footbridge over the FDR highway as officers raced to help their colleague. Officers carried Holder to a waiting van that took him to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead. Howard was arrested not far from the scene.
"The NYPD is pleased to learn that justice has been served by today's verdict," said NYPD Commissioner James O'Neill.
Howard didn't attend some of the jury deliberations because he wanted to catch up on his sleep, prosecutors said last week. Howard had five convictions for drug dealing and another for armed robbery. He was out on bail - and had been ordered to enter a drug treatment program on his most recent drug case - when he became embroiled in a gunfight with rival dealers before he hopped on the bicycle and sped off, eventually encountering Holder and Wallace.
Holder always wanted to be a police officer, following in the footsteps of his father and grandfather, who served as officers in their native Guyana. Holder's dream came true in 2010 when he joined the New York Police Department and began patrolling the city's public housing complexes.
"It's in his blood," his commanding officer, Capt. Reymundo Mundo said at his funeral. "It's in his genes."
