Philadelphia: “How about criminally negligent homicide?”: Philadelphia judge drops charges against officer who killed Eddie Irizarry, leaves netizens furious

“How about criminally negligent homicide?”: Philadelphia judge drops charges against officer who killed Eddie Irizarry, leaves netizens furious

By Bias Sinha

Modified Sep 27, 2023 18:17 GMT

Philadelphia cop, Mark Dial, was made free from all charges (Image via Associated Press / Philadelphia police department)

After surveillance video on August 14 showed a Philadelphia police officer, Mark Dial, fatally shooting a 27-year-old driver inside his car, the officer was charged with murder.

According to the prosecution, the wounded driver, Eddie Irizarry, allegedly passed away. On Friday, September 8, the Philadelphia cop, Mark Dial, handed himself into the police. Then, earlier this month, District Attorney Larry Krasner filed charges against Dial for murder, aggravated assault, voluntary manslaughter, simple assault, and several other offenses.

Disclaimer: This article contains mentions of gun violence and alleged police brutality.

The comment section of Fox29's post faced criticism from netizens (Image via X / @FOX29philly)

However, on Tuesday, September 26, the Philadelphia court had thrown out the murder and other allegations against Dial. According to the AP News, Dial's defense attorney, Brian McMonagle, emphasized in court that Dial acted in self-defense and said:

“He is firing while trying to take cover”.

As per the same sources, the judge dismissed the case due to a lack of evidence and said:

“I agree with you 100%".

This entire incident enraged the netizens. As soon as the news went viral, they went to Fox 29’s X (formerly known as Twitter) post and criticized the decision. User @furious_cs even said he should have been charged with “criminally negligent homicide.”

Netizens criticize the judge's decision (Image via X / @FOX29philly)

Netizens criticize the Philadelphia judge who dropped charges against Officer Mark Dial

Dial's charges were dropped due to lack of evidence (Image via Associated Press)

Police allegedly stopped Irizarry on August 14 for driving recklessly. They initially claimed that Mr. Irizarry lunged at cops while waving a knife at them. However, some days later, the police changed their first account of the shooting after Philadelphia prosecutors disclosed body camera footage that proved that Mr. Irizarry was in the driver's seat when the officer opened fire.

Irizarry is seen in the video sitting in the car with his driver's window rolled up as Dial can be seen firing multiple shots at him. The footage was later revealed to the public.

Despite this, according to the court records, Judge Wendy Pew dropped the case on Tuesday, September 26, during a preliminary hearing due to a lack of evidence. After watching the video of the fatal shooting, the court decided there was not enough evidence to find Philadelphia Officer Mark Dial guilty of killing Irizarry.

Moreover, when Dial shot Irizarry through the driver's side window at close range during the traffic check, the defense claimed he was acting in self-defense. Brian McMonagle, the defense attorney, even requested Pew to withdraw the charges.

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As per sources like AP News, attributing the judge's decision to "favoritism" towards the police, Aracelis Brown, Irizarry's cousin, said:

“You’re sitting here telling me that he was trying to lunge at you. He was not. He was locked in the car. So there was no way that he could get to you guys, and yet you still felt threatened and shot at him”.

Pew’s decision to drop all the charges against Officer Dial also infuriated the netizens. They went to the post uploaded by Fox29 on X and started voicing their opinion against the entire thing. They even made it clear that they disagreed with Pew’s decision.

What is the current status of the case?

A police officer for Philadelphia, Danielle Outlaw, who announced her departure earlier this month, suspended Dial for 30 days after the shooting. According to authorities, Dial, who had worked for the department for five years, was let go on September 18.

According to a statement from Krasner on Tuesday, September 26, the District Attorney's Office, on the other hand, did not agree with the decision taken by the Municipal Court Judge Wendy L. Pew as they dismissed all criminal charges against Mark Dial for the homicide of Eddie Irizarry on August 14, 2023.

Edited by Pradyot Hegde