By Jim Fitzgerald
Associated Press
MINEOLA, N.Y. — A parolee convicted of killing a police officer during a traffic stop and then a motorist while he was fleeing was sentenced Friday to life in prison by a judge who said the punishment would be a “prelude to the hell that may await you.”
Darrell Fuller, 34, of Queens, was convicted in July of first- and second-degree murder. According to trial testimony, Fuller had a friend shoot him in the leg after the killings to make it appear he had been a victim.
“There is absolutely nothing redeemable about you,” Nassau County Court Judge Jerald Carter told Fuller, whom he referred to as “despicable you.”
Arthur Lopez, a 29-year-old Nassau County police officer from Babylon, and his partner saw a car driven by Fuller collide with a van in October 2012. Fuller, who was violating parole by carrying a loaded gun, drove off in his damaged vehicle.
After a pursuit and traffic stop near the Belmont racetrack, Fuller fired a handgun from 5 feet away, killing the officer.
He then spotted Raymond Facey, 58, of Brooklyn, who had stopped along the road to make a phone call. Fuller killed him with a shot to the head and stole his car, prosecutors said.
At his trial, Fuller’s attorney called no witnesses and argued that no one actually saw Fuller firing the shots that killed either Lopez or Facey.
Charo Ramos, daughter of the slain policeman, told Fuller she hopes “the devil takes his time with you.”
June Facey, widow of the carjacking victim, went to the sentencing carrying a framed photo and a construction hardhat that he wore every day.
“He’ll never wear it again,” she said. “I never let it out of my sight.”
The judge held up that photo and one of Lopez during the sentencing.
“Imagine the worst emotional pain you have experienced in your whole life and then multiply it by 10,000,” Facey told the court, adding that her husband’s death was “the waste of a brilliant mind and a beautiful soul.”
Also attending the sentencing was juror Antoinette Patricia Neil of Valley Stream, New York.
“We went through a journey for two months and I want to see the whole process through,” said Neil, adding that she has “no regrets” about verdict.
Officer James Carver, president of the Nassau County Police Benevolent Association, said he wished New York had the death penalty, “because that would be the only appropriate sentence.”
Carver said Fuller’s imprisonment will be very expensive for New York taxpayers: During his trial, testimony was limited to three days a week because the defendant needed two days a week for kidney dialysis treatments.
“He’s going to be taken care of for the rest of his life while the Lopez and Facey families visit gravesites on holidays,” Carver said.
Copyright 2014 The Associated Press