Man Who Shot Massapequa Officer Sentenced To Life In Prison: DA

A Queens Village man was sentenced on Tuesday to life in prison without parole for the 2015 murder of NYPD officer Brian Moore and the attempted murder of officer Erik Jansen, according to a statement from Queens District Attorney Richard Brown.

Demetrius Blackwell, 37, was found guilty last month of first degree murder, first degree attempted murder and second degree criminal possession of a weapon after a three-week jury trial.

In the statement, Brown said that the sentencing was "more than appropriate under the facts of this case."

"The evidence of the defendant’s guilt presented at trial was truly overwhelming," he said. "It is also fitting that the defendant will serve the maximum sentence allowed under the law as a message that we, as a society, will never forget his heinous and cowardly act."

In 2015 Massapequa native Moore, 25, and his partner, Jansen, then 30, were on patrol when they saw Blackwell, then 35, adjusting something on his waistband in Queens. The two plainclothes officers rode alongside him in their police vehicle to question him. When Moore said, "Police, you got something?" Blackwell responded, "Yeah, I got something," according to the DA.

He then removed an unlicensed five-shot silver revolver from his waistband and fired three shots at the two officers, striking Moore twice in the head. The third bullet, which was intended for Jansen, struck a nearby house.

During the trial, Blackwell's attorney asked Judge Gregory Lasak to consider a lesser sentence arguing that Blackwell had a "compromised brain" due to "underlying emotional and psychological problems," according to a report in Newsday.

However, Lasak showed no sympathy.

“To make that simple for your compromised brain, you're going to die in prison. You will never breathe fresh air outside the confines of a New York State prison.” he said according to multiple reports. “Advise the defendant of his right to appeal and get his smirking face out of this courtroom.”

In addition, Lasak also stated he is recommending that Blackwell be sent to a prison by the Canadian border so that he will be as cold and as "far away from his family as possible," Newsday reports.

"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," Brown said in his statement.

Moore's father, retired Detective Sergeant Raymond Moore, said that while he was happy with the sentence, he would have preferred the death penalty for Blackwell.

"I know this piece of garbage is going to go away for the rest of his life without parole," he told ABC7. "But I feel that if New York state had the death penalty, I'd love to see this animal put down once and for all."

Brown says he is "confident" that justice has been served.

"It goes without question that the defendant’s actions were a direct attack on our society and the law and soberly reminds us of the unseen dangers that our police officers face each day – and the ultimate sacrifice they may be called upon to make – as they carry out their sworn duty to protect and serve our communities," he said. "Justly, the person responsible for causing so much pain and suffering must be punished for his criminal actions for the greater good and protection of society."

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