Philly DA refiles murder charges against cop who shot Eddie Irizarry hours after judge dismissed case
The Philadelphia District Attorney reportedly refiled murder charges against a former city cop who shot and killed a man sitting in his car last month — just hours after a judge shocked the victim’s family by tossing the case.
The officer — Mark Dial, 27 — unloaded into a car driven by Eddie Irizarry Jr. on Aug. 14 in a horrific caught-on-camera killing that left Irizarry mortally wounded in the front seat of his Toyota Camry.
Dial’s lawyers said the officer believed Irizarry had a gun during the traffic stop — a sentiment apparently shared by Municipal Judge Wendy Pew, who dismissed the first set of charges Tuesday.
“I agree with you 100%,” the judge told defense attorney Brian McMonagle, who argued Dial had acted in self-defense.
Then she tossed the case for lack of evidence, leaving the dead man’s relatives stunned and distraught inside her courtroom.
Just hours later, however, the DA filed a motion to reinstate the charges — which include murder, voluntary manslaughter and aggravated assault, according to CBS. His next court date will be Oct. 25 with Judge Lillian Ransom.
The DA’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The Philadelphia police first painted the summer killing as an act of self-preservation by an officer who felt his life was threatened: cops initially said Dial shot Irizarry because Irizarry lunged at him with a blade outside the vehicle.
The statement also claimed cops gave Irizarry “multiple commands” to drop the knife, but he went after them anyway.
The department retracted the statement after surveillance video and police body camera footage showed Dial race up to the car and fire six rounds into Irizarry’s rolled-up window within seven seconds of his leaving the police cruiser.
Officers had stopped the man on a residential street in the drug-ridden Kensington neighborhood in North Philadelphia after a short pursuit because of his alleged erratic driving.
Irizarry had been holding a knife near his right leg as the five-year-vet approached the car, according to bodycam footage shown at the preliminary hearing.
But prosecutors said Irizarry did not even have a chance to react to the officer before he pulled the trigger.
“Show me your hands, I will f–ing shoot you,” Dial yelled at Irizarry on the footage before ripping off a half-dozen shots at point-blank range.
He then radioed to his fellow officers, “Shots fired,” and opened the driver’s door.
Inside, Irizarry lay bloody and motionless in his seat, softly moaning as Dial shouts, “Get your hands up now.”
Dial and his partner, Officer Michael Morris, loaded the wounded Irizarry into their cruiser and brought him to the hospital, where he later died.
In court Tuesday, Morris said he “vocalized” that Irizarry was holding a knife, according to CBS.
But he wavered under cross-examination, and it was not clear whether Morris said gun, then knife.
Philadelphia police fired Dial on Sept. 18.
He was released from custody Tuesday after Pew dismissed his charges.
McMonagle, the cop’s attorney, said the judge’s decision brought justice for his client.
“We have said from the beginning — this is a tragedy, not a crime,” McMonagle told CBS. “This should’ve never been charged as a crime. And we’re elated Mark’s coming home to his family.”
Others disagreed — especially the victim’s family.
“Everyone in Philadelphia seen a murder,” said Irizarry’s aunt, Zoraida Garcia.
“They seen my nephew get f–king murdered,” she continued. “Ambushed. Ambushed in his f–king car. And they threw out all the f–king charges.”
“You just proved to Philadelphia that an officer can kill somebody, and get the f–k away with it in Philadelphia.”
After the decision, a representative of the DA’s office made clear the case wasn’t over.
“We do not agree with the judge’s decision today to dismiss all the charges,” said Karima Yelverton, with the district attorney’s office.
“We will file an appeal of this decision before the end of the day today.”
With Post wires
