PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) — Former Philadelphia police officer Mark Dial was sentenced Thursday in the 2023 shooting death of Eddie Irizarry. Irizarry’s family members expressed outrage after leaving the courtroom.
He was sentenced to 9.5 months to two years but was granted immediate parole since he had already served 10 months in prison.
“My nephew’s life doesn’t matter at all. He gets to go home again. What do we have? To go to a cemetery and visit Eddie all over again,” said Irizarry’s Aunt, Ana Cintron.
It took a jury two days to find Dial guilty of voluntary manslaughter in May, but not guilty of third-degree murder.
At the heart of the case was whether Dial was justified in using deadly force when he fired six shots into a car driven by Eddie Irizarry in August 2023, killing him.
Police started following Irizarry after he drove erratically and eventually went the wrong way down East Willard Street.
After Irizarry stopped his car, he sat inside holding a knife.
The defense said the handle resembled a gun, and it looked as if he pointed it at officers. Dial testified he thought his partner yelled “gun.”
“Mark Dial was a dedicated public servant. He risked his life every day for perfect strangers. The judge did the right thing today,” said Brian McMonagle, Defense Attorney for Dial.
In the courtroom, the judge said he believes Dial feels deep remorse for shooting Irizarry.
When he read the sentence, there was an audible gasp among family members who wanted to see Dial spend years behind bars.
“If that was me, and I would have committed this crime, it would have been years. I would have been doing life in prison. But he’s a cop, so he gets the OK,” said Zoraida Garcia, a family member.
District Attorney, Larry Krasner said today that while he respects the judge, he disagrees with his decision.
“There is nothing new about white people being treated better than black and brown people. And there is nothing new, sadly, about the status of a defendant, whether that status involves wearing a uniform or not.”
Dial is now a convicted felon and can never work as a police officer again.