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In the face of all odds, Katrina Brownlee, a mother-of-two and now a retired NYPD officer, survived an abusive five-year-long relationship with ex-fiance Alex Irvin. In January 1993, Irvin shot Brownlee, then 22, ten times while she was pregnant with their child. The mother survived the attempted murder owing to an unexpected guest who arrived at the crime scene and was able to rush her to the hospital.
Brownlee made a full recovery in the years that followed and built a solid case against Irvin with the help of Assistant District Attorney Keri Herzog. Right before the trial, he pleaded guilty to all charges, including attempted murder in the second degree, assault in the first degree, and criminal use of a firearm.
According to The Cinemaholic, Alex Irvin was sentenced to five to 15 years and was released from prison on parole in 2003. He is currently residing in North Carolina where he works as a manager in the healthcare solutions industry.
This Saturday, CBS 48 Hours will further delve into Katrina Brownlee's disturbing case in an episode titled Katrina Brownlee: The Good Cop. The episode is slated to air on the channel at 9:00 pm ET on April 8, 2023.
Here's the synopsis for the upcoming episode:
"Her ex-fiancé — an officer with a badge — nearly killed her. She says police failed to protect her, so she got her own badge."
Five things to know about former Rikers Island corrections officer and Katrina Brownlee's abusive ex-fiance, Alex Irvin
1) Irvin met Katrina Brownlee when she was only 18 years old and lived at the Brevoort Projects
In 1988, Alex Irvin, who worked as a corrections officer at the infamous Rikers Island at the time, first met 18-year-old Katrina Brownlee, a struggling single mother who lived in the Brevoort Projects. The two soon developed a romantic relationship and the young mother knew Irvin could give her the family that she had always dreamed about.
2) The corrections officer, using his badge, got away with abuse for years
Brownlee stayed with Alex Irvin for five years during which he repeatedly mistreated her with both s*xual and physical abuse. She frequently called 911 in the hopes of getting assistance from the cops but to no avail. Officers would return from their doorstep every time the corrections officer flashed his badge, which acted like a shield for him. He would even beat her publicly in the streets.
Irvin allegedly exploited the fact that Brownlee did not have a family to keep her safe and that her elderly grandmother urged her to continue their relationship despite being aware of the abuse. Reports state that even after the latter got pregnant and gave birth to their daughter, the abuse continued and gradually increased after they moved to Medford, Long Island, and later took a tragic turn.
3) Alex Irvin set a trap for Brownlee in 1993 and shot her 10 times, nearly killing her
After enduring five long years of abuse, Katrina Brownlee left Irvin and moved to a local motel with both her daughters in late 1992. She was pregnant with her third child at the time. But when she returned to the Medford home on January 9 the following year, the pregnant 22-year-old walked right into Alex Irvin’s trap. The latter started shooting at her moments after she entered the house.
Irvin shot her five times with his service gun before reloading the firearms and firing five more shots at her, leaving her fatally injured. Throughout the predicament, he mocked and tortured her, and even put band-aids on her bullet wounds.
4) Katrina Brownlee survived the shooting after which Irvin was charged with attempted murder
On the day of the shooting, Brownlee was saved by an unexpected visitor, one of Irvin's family friends, who entered the offender's Medford home and found the horrific crime scene and found the victim, barely conscious, on the bathroom floor. The pregnant mother was then rushed to the hospital and although she survived, lost her unborn son as a result of multiple gunshot wounds.
With all the evidence piled up against him, including a combination of eyewitnesses, his gun, and the horrific crime scene, Irvin was arrested within hours on the day of the shooting.
In the years that followed, Brownlee made a full recovery but still had six of the ten bullets lodged inside her body. She also built a solid case against her abuser with the assistance of Assistant District Attorney Keri Herzog.
5) Alex Irvin eventually pleaded guilty and was handed a minimum sentence in his fiance's attempted murder case
While building the case against Alex Irvin, Katrina Brownlee was manipulated, threatened, and blackmailed. But she stood strong in the face of all challenges backed by a limited few people until Irvin, right before his trial, pleaded guilty and was subsequently sentenced to five to 15 years in prison, which was far less than what Brownlee and her attorney had expected. Irvin was released from prison in 2003 on parole.
