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Det. Brian Moore was shot to death in May 2015.
By Michael V. Cusenza
Closing arguments were scheduled for Wednesday in Queens County Supreme Court in the jury trial of Demetrius Blackwell, 37, who is accused of the 2015 murder of then- City Police Officer Brian Moore, 25, and the attempted murder of Officer Erik Jansen, then 30.
The trial was set to resume late Wednesday morning after State courts were closed on Tuesday due to Election Day. Deputy Executive Assistant District Attorney Daniel Saunders was set to deliver closing arguments for the People, while David Bart would be presenting his summation to the jury for the defense.
Moore, on the job for five years, and his partner, were in plainclothes on Saturday, May 2, 2015, riding in an unmarked NYPD vehicle around 6:15 p.m. when they noticed a suspect on 104th Road near 212th Street in Queens Village adjusting what looked like an object in the waistband of his pants. According to the criminal complaint, based on details provided by Jansen, he and Moore “drove slowly alongside [the suspect], Demetrius Blackwell, and inquired as to what he possessed in the waistband of his pants.” After Moore, who was driving, and Jansen both identified themselves as police officers, Jansen said Blackwell then “removed a firearm from his waistband and fired numerous shots” at both cops while they were still in the vehicle.
Moore was shot in the cheek; Jansen was not struck.
According to The New York Times, Jansen testified at trial that “he took off his shirt and held it to the back of Officer Moore’s head. ‘I kept trying to tell him to wake up,’” Jansen said.
Moore’s family decided on Monday, May 4, 2015, to take him off life support at Jamaica Hospital Medical Center.
Blackwell, of Queens Village, was indicted in June on 12 counts charging him with one count each of aggravated murder, second- and first-degree murder, attempted aggravated murder, second- and first-degree attempted murder, second- and third-degree criminal possession of a weapon, seventh-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance, unlawful possession of marihuana, petit larceny and fifth-degree criminal possession of stolen property. He faces up to life in prison without the possibility of parole if convicted.
Earlier this year, the 105th Precinct dedicated a Memorial Wall inside the 222nd Street stationhouse featuring Moore’s plaque alongside those of three other members of the command who made the ultimate sacrifice.
“Brian has changed countless lives forever,” his mom, Irene, said at the ceremony. “And because of this, we are able to stand strong, all of us.”
