Mark Dial convicted of voluntary manslaughter in 2023 killing of Eddie Irizarry

Former Philadelphia Police Officer Mark Dial was convicted of voluntary manslaughter and related crimes Thursday for shooting Eddie Irizarry to death in 2023, but he was acquitted of the more serious charge of third-degree murder.

The jury found that Dial, 29, acted unreasonably and recklessly when he shot Irizarry six times through his car window in Kensington. Dial was also convicted of recklessly endangering another person and possessing an instrument of crime.

Prosecutors said Irizarry, who was sitting in the driver’s seat of his car, holding a knife with the windows rolled up, was not an imminent threat to Dial when the officer opened fire within six seconds of encountering him on Aug. 14, 2023.

And they said Dial acted irrationally after his partner, Michael Morris, yelled “Knife!” as they approached the car.

Dial’s attorneys disputed those assertions, saying Morris yelled “Gun!” when he first looked into the car, and they argued that the seven-inch knife Irizarry was holding resembled a firearm. Dial, they said, acted lawfully and in self-defense.

The jury disagreed. After about eight hours of deliberations following a trial that spanned about 2½ days, the panel of 10 women and two men unanimously agreed the officer’s behavior was criminal.

As the verdict was read aloud Thursday, Dial at first breathed a sigh of relief as the jury said he was not guilty of murder. But as the rest of the verdict was read — convictions for three crimes that could send him to prison for years — he lowered his head and wept.

In the moments after the jury left the room, Dial cried into the shoulders of his attorneys, and then he walked into the arms of his mother. She touched the side of his face and wept with him.

And on the other side of the courtroom, Irizarry’s family leaned into one another and cried tears of relief.

Zoraida Garcia, Irizarry’s aunt, embraced Assistant District Attorney Karima Yelverton and thanked her.

“I am praying for y’all,” Yelverton said through tears.

Prosecutors asked that Dial’s bail be revoked and that he be held in custody ahead of his July sentencing. Common Pleas Court Judge Glenn B. Bronson denied that request, saying the officer was not a flight risk or a threat to the community.

Dial left the courthouse Thursday surrounded by his family without speaking to reporters. His attorneys, Brian McMonagle and Fortunato Perri Jr., said they were glad he was acquitted of murder but disappointed that he was convicted of anything.

“This was not a malicious killing. This was a mistake,” Perri said.

Prosecutors declined to comment on the verdict. District Attorney Larry Krasner, in a statement, said his office “remains committed to fair and even-handed justice no matter who the offender or victim may be.”

“While we believe most sworn law enforcement personnel carry out their responsibilities with integrity and professionalism, we believe today’s conviction … was both fair and just,” said Krasner, who on Tuesday won the Democratic primary election that all but ensures he will spend another four years as the city’s top prosecutor.

The verdict marked the conclusion of a case and a shooting that drew scrutiny from some members of the public, who questioned why Dial so quickly resorted to deadly force.

Dial took the stand Wednesday and explained his decisions for the first time, testifying that he heard Morris say “gun” as he approached Irizarry’s driver’s-side window. And as Irizarry lifted his arm toward him, he said, he thought the 27-year-old was pointing the barrel of a firearm at him.

“It was black and metallic. It had a shine to it, and the end of it looked like it was pointed right at me,” he said.

He didn’t want to shoot, he told the jury amid tears, but did so “because I didn’t want to get shot in the face.”

Dial’s attorneys contended that his decision to shoot was justified under Pennsylvania law, which allows an officer to use deadly force if he believes he or someone else is in danger of death or bodily injury.

Jurors rejected that view.

The case had taken a circuitous path through both the courts and the police department. In the weeks after the shooting, protests erupted throughout the city, in part because officials initially provided a false narrative of what happened.

Police first said Irizarry was out of his car, and had lunged at Dial with a knife, leading the officer to shoot him. Video released in the days after showed that was not true — Irizarry had never gotten out of his car, and his windows were rolled up when Dial shot him.

Advocates and members of Irizarry’s family took to the streets, calling for Dial to be fired and charged with a crime.

Shortly afterward, then-Police Commissioner Danielle Outlaw fired Dial after she said he refused to cooperate with an internal investigation into the shooting. And a few weeks later, Krasner charged Dial with murder and related crimes.

Then, in September 2023, after a Municipal Court judge dismissed all charges against Dial at a preliminary hearing, some protests turned violent. Groups of people broke into and vandalized stores across the city, even as Irizarry’s family called for peace. (Prosecutors refiled the charges and the case proceeded toward trial.)

At least a dozen Philadelphia police officers and members of the Fraternal Order of Police gathered inside the courtroom during the trial in support of Dial and his family.

Dial is the second officer in less than three years to be convicted of voluntary manslaughter for an on-duty killing. Eric Ruch, who shot and killed Dennis Plowden Jr. in 2017 as prosecutors said Plowden tried to surrender following a car chase, was convicted of the crime in 2022. He was later sentenced to 11½ to 23 months in prison, below the state sentencing guidelines, which called for a minimum of 4½ years.

Those same guidelines suggest that Dial face 4½ to six years behind bars. The sentence is ultimately at the judge’s discretion.

Outside the courthouse, under a steady sheet of rain, members of Irizarry’s family said they were relieved, but surprised by the verdict. They had walked into court that day convinced that Dial could very well walk free, they said.

Irizarry’s father and namesake leaned against a column of the building, steadying himself. After two years of anguish, he said in Spanish, “I am at peace.”

“One less abusing cop on the streets,” he said. “… It’s not exactly how I wanted it, but it’s what God sent and it’s what we’re going to accept.”

The family said they would push for Dial to receive the maximum sentence for his crimes.

“Remember, his family has him alive,” Eddie Irizarry said. “They can hug him, see him, visit him. And after some time, he can go back to continue his life. I can’t do that with my son. My son is not coming back. I have to resign myself to that.”