Officer says he yelled ‘knife’ before Mark Dial shot Eddie Irizarry six times in day one of his murder trial

Philadelphia Police Officer Michael Morris did not waver as he recalled what he saw when he approached Eddie Irizarry’s car on Aug. 14, 2023.

“I saw him produce a knife,” Morris said Monday as the first witness in the murder trial of his former partner, Mark Dial.

And he appeared confident about what he said he yelled as Dial ran up to Irizarry’s car as it was parked on a Kensington street.

“I said, ‘Mark, he’s got a knife,’” he said. “If my memory serves me correctly, I said it multiple times.”

But as Morris listened to the sound from a video of the few seconds before Dial opened fire on Irizarry that summer afternoon, he acknowledged that there could have been confusion in what his partner heard him say.

“Does it sound like you said gun?” Dial’s defense attorney Brian McMonagle asked the officer.

“From the video, yes, it sounds like I do say it,” Morris replied.

That, McMonagle and his team of fellow defense lawyers said as the trial got underway Monday, is why the jury should conclude that Dial is not guilty.

The officer, in the heat of a tense, rapidly evolving situation, believed the seven-inch folding knife Irizarry was holding inside his car was actually a gun, they said, and, fearing for his life, Dial shot him multiple times.

“Every tragedy is not a crime,” said defense lawyer Fortunato Perri Jr.

But prosecutors on Monday said the officer’s actions on that day were criminal and urged jurors to convict him of murder.

Although Irizarry was holding a knife, he did not try to get out of his car and “was not a threat to this defendant or his partner,” said Assistant District Attorney Karima Yelverton. And rather than pause to assess whether Irizarry posed a threat to the officers’ safety, she said, Dial showed a “wanton and willful disregard for human life” when he shot Irizarry six times, within less than six seconds of encountering him.

A jury of 10 women and two men will decide whether or not the 29-year-old former officer is guilty of third-degree murder, voluntary manslaughter, and related crimes.

The attorneys’ contentions and Morris’ testimony marked the first day of the high-profile trial, which officials say will likely last through the week.

The case centers on the death of Irizarry, 27, who was seated in his car, with the windows rolled up, when Dial shot and killed him.

Dial and Morris were on patrol on a nearby North Philadelphia street when, they said, they saw Irizarry speed past them in the bike lane at a red light. Irizarry was driving so fast, Morris said, that their car shook. The officers thought Irizarry may have been fleeing a crime, they said, and followed as he maneuvered through residential streets.

Irizarry then drove the wrong way down East Willard Street before quickly parking his car and turning down his music. The doors to his car were locked, and his windows were rolled up, prosecutors said.

Morris, who was driving, said he and Dial believed Irizarry had been trying to evade them when he pulled up next to the sedan. Morris jumped out with his gun drawn, he said, and immediately saw that Irizarry was holding a knife against the side of his leg.

Morris said he yelled “knife” as Dial ran along the front of the car. Then, he said, as Dial approached the driver’s side of the car, Irizarry lifted the knife up and turned in Dial’s direction. That blade resembled a gun, McMonagle said.

“I will f— shoot you!" Dial yelled, according to the video. He then almost immediately opened fire through the driver’s window, jumping back as he continued to shoot.

Irizarry was struck six times, including in the jaw, chest, and one hand.

As videos of the shooting were played on Monday, Dial sobbed.

Across the courtroom, Irizarry’s relatives did the same.