File Photo
Police Officer Eddie Byrne was killed in Jamaica on Feb. 26, 1988.
By Michael V. Cusenza
The brother of a hero Queens cop who was assassinated on duty 30 years ago has once again voiced his opposition to parole for the four assailants.
Former City Police Department deputy commissioner for Legal Matters, Lawrence Byrne, delivered on Friday a victim’s impact statement clearly expressing his family’s opinion that David McClary, Scott Cobb, Todd Scott and Phillip Copeland, who were convicted of killing his brother, Eddie, should stay locked behind bars.
“The death of Eddie, who was a son and brother, was a devastating blow to our family from which we will never recover,” Lawrence wrote. “As a lawyer, I believe in the rule of law and how the law changes with the times. These cold-blooded killers only have the right to seek parole because they were convicted before life without parole was instituted for killing a police officer in New York State. Society today believes that anyone who intentionally kills a police officer should be sentenced to life without parole. So did the judge who sentenced them. McClary, Cobb, Scott and Copeland certainly deserve no better than they would have received today. Getting old in prison doesn’t absolve you of responsibility or punishment for your crime. Denying them parole would be in keeping the wishes of society and the sentencing judge and with the spirit of the today’s law that recognizes that cop-killers should never be granted parole.”
Eddie Byrne, a rookie City cop just seven months out of the academy and assigned to the 103rd Precinct, was executed on Feb. 26, 1988, as he sat in his marked radio motor patrol car at 107th Avenue and Inwood Street in Jamaica, guarding the home of a critical witness in a major drug case whose home was previously firebombed to discourage him from testifying. The four assassins were members of a drug gang that had been ordered by kingpin Howard “Pappy” Mason to kill a police officer.
At approximately 3:30 a.m., one of the men knocked on the passenger-side window of Byrne’s car to distract him as a second man opened fire just outside the driver’s side window. Byrne was shot five times in the head. He was 22.
McClary, Cobb, Scott and Copeland shared $8,000 for the murder bragged to others about their crime which led to their arrest a few days later. Each was sentenced to 25 years to life in prison.
“Anyone who would so casually kill a police officer would not hesitate to pull the trigger on a civilian. To grant them parole would be a gross abuse of discretion by the sitting parole board,” said Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association President Patrick Lynch. “To prevent the possibility of that abuse from occurring in the future, NY State must pass legislation that will govern by statue the parameters for granting parole. The right to make those policies has to be taken out of the hands of prisoner advocates and must be codified in law. There is a place for parole for low-level crimes, but never in the case of cop-killers.”
