The East Harlem man on trial for the murder of NYPD Officer Randolph Holder has been found guilty on all counts, including first-degree murder.
The jury returned the verdict against Tyrone Howard, 32, Monday after four days of deliberation in Manhattan Supreme Court.
Howard shot and killed Holder on Tuesday, Oct. 20, 2015, during a pursuit along the promenade area of the FDR Drive.
Holder, 33, was on the roof of 420 E. 102nd St. that Tuesday night with a fellow housing bureau plainclothes officer when they witnessed a group of men shooting at each other, police said at the time.
As the officers pursued the men, they crossed paths with one of them, Howard, who was mounted on a bicycle he had recently stolen by gunpoint. At that point, Howard put down the bike and fired his Glock handgun one time, striking Holder in the head.
Howard was convicted of multiple charges, including aggravated murder and murder in the first degree. He is expected to be sentenced on April 3.
After the jury’s decision, Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance called Holder, a five-year veteran, the “very definition of a hero.”
“In the span of thirteen minutes, Tyrone Howard was a one-man crime spree when he orchestrated multiple acts of senseless violence – beginning with firing gunshots at a group of people on a busy city street, then stealing a bicycle at gunpoint, before culminating in the callous murder of Detective Randolph Holder,” Vance said in a statement.
“In the final moments of his life, Detective Holder bravely responded to reports of gunfire in an attempt to put a stop to this defendant’s campaign of criminal activity.
Holder’s death riled the public, which lashed out at criminal justice system for not locking up Howard sooner.
Howard had avoided jail time after his arrest in a drug-trafficking sting in 2015 by attending a court-assigned drug-rehabilitation program.
