Blue Sheepdog

Police Officer Dillon Stewart was murdered on November 28, 2005. Now, almost two years later, his killer has been convicted.

When I wrote about this event back in September, I grieved for Mrs. Stewart who would have to endure this trial. I can only hope this helps to bring peace to Stewart’s wife and family.

Stay Safe!

Guilty Verdict in Murder of Police Officer

By: MICHAEL BRICK
Published: October 11, 2007

A 29-year-old man accused of fatally shooting a police officer in Brooklyn after fleeing a routine traffic stop was convicted of first-degree murder today.

Dressed in a dark suit and blue tie and appearing solemn, the man, Allan Cameron, said nothing as the verdict was announced in State Supreme Court in Brooklyn this afternoon. With the wife of the slain officer, Dillon Stewart, 35, sobbing just behind him, Mr. Cameron looked out across a courtroom packed with uniformed police officers and was quietly led away.

He faces life in prison, and is scheduled to be sentenced on Nov. 8 by Justice Albert Tomei.

Several relatives of Mr. Cameron, who sat immediately beside Mr. Stewart’s widow in the courtroom, had little to say after the verdict was read, and filed out silently with other spectators. Outside the courthouse, a lawyer for Mr. Cameron, Edward Friedman, said the day was marked by sadness for all parties involved.

“It’s a sad day for Allan Cameron and a sad day for all of Cameron’s family,” he said. “It’s been a series of bad days for Dillon Stewart’s family.”

The killing of Mr. Stewart, a veteran detective with the 70th Precinct in the heart of Brooklyn, gripped New York for several days and prompted Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly to push for the department’s vests to be redesigned. Officer Stewart was killed on Nov. 28, 2005, after a bullet that prosecutors said was fired by Mr. Cameron passed under Officer Stewart’s left armpit and went through the armhole of his bullet-proof vest.

According to prosecutors, the shooting took place as Officer Stewart was monitoring the Temptations nightclub during a midnight shift in Flatbush. As Officer Stewart and his partner were sitting in an unmarked car, a red Infiniti Q45 driven by Mr. Cameron sped by and ran a stoplight at Flatbush and Church Avenues.

The officers gave chase, prosecutors said, and as they followed the sedan down several streets and back toward their starting point, the driver suddenly stopped. The police car pulled alongside to the right. Six shots were fired through the passenger side of the sedan, prosecutors said. A 9-millimeter round passed above the panels of Officer Stewart’s bullet-resistant vest, under his left armpit and into a ventricle of his heart.

Then the sedan drove away, and again Officer Stewart gave chase, mortally wounded now but still driving. His partner radioed for help and a procession of officers followed the sedan and fired on it as its driver made his escape behind the door of a parking garage.

Later that morning, the police arrested Mr. Cameron at the home of his female companion.

At the trial, Officer Stewart’s partner testified that he had never seen the gunman’s face. Lacking an eyewitness, prosecutors built a circumstantial case on the testimony of ballistics and DNA experts, investigators and civilian witnesses. One man told of selling Mr. Cameron the car. One man described Mr. Cameron’s frequent use of the garage. The girlfriend, Maritza Nicolas, recounted throwing the gun out a window.

Prosecutors said that Mr. Cameron also had a clear motive for eluding the police at all costs: On the night of the shooting, they said, he was on probation and carrying marijuana and a gun.

But Mr. Friedman and another lawyer for Mr. Cameron argued that he was innocent, and suggested an alternate interpretation of the evidence: Perhaps Officer Stewart had been struck by the police gunfire directed at Mr. Cameron.

“This evidence that you heard from the witness stand this past month is full of fraud, misrepresentation, half-truths and lies,” said Mr. Friedman, addressing the jury during closing arguments. He continued: “To make their case, ladies and gentlemen, to make their case.”

Mr. Friedman reminded jurors of testimony by one of the officers who had fired on the fleeing car, Officer Mark Pihlava. In court, Officer Pihlava had shown how he had tried to fix a jammed weapon during the chase by shaking it and pulling the slide.

“Almost immediately, Officer Stewart says, ‘I’m shot,’ ” Mr. Friedman told the jury.

In the end, the jury apparently did not accept that version of the shooting.

(Please note, the gratuitous self-promotion and anti-gun propaganda from Michael Bloomberg was removed. It has no place on this blog.)