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Man Who Shot NYPD Officer Found Guilty Of Second-Degree Murder
Updated: Updated 02/11/2013 10:54 PM
By: Dean Meminger

On Monday, a Brooklyn jury found Lamont Pride, the man charged in the fatal shooting of a city police officer, guilty of second-degree murder and second-degree aggravated manslaughter.


Pride, seen above, now faces 25 years to life behind bars on the second-degree murder conviction.


He was found not guilty of aggravated murder, meaning the charge that Pride knowingly and intentionally killed a police officer. That charge would have resulted in an automatic life sentence.


On Friday, jurors asked to see the videotaped interview between Pride and investigators from the Brooklyn District Attorney's office.


In that interview, Pride gives his version of what happened the night Detective Peter Figoski was shot to death in December 2011.


Pride claimed the shooting was an accident, and the defense said during the trial that he is remorseful.


"Lamont did not intend to kill a police officer, that the gun went off in the course of him fleeing Officer Figoski, coming down the stairs. Just a tragedy all around," said James Koenig, Pride's attorney. "This entire thing was just the perfect storm of stupidity with a loaded handgun."


Prosecutors said Pride and four others were trying to rob a drug dealer in Cypress Hills when police arrived, and that Pride shot Figoski in the face while trying to escape.


Supporters of Figoski's family were not happy with Monday's verdict.


"This clown intended on killing Peter Figoski, period. There is no doubt. The evidence spoke to that," said Patrolmen's Benevolent Association President Pat Lynch.


Meanwhile, Figoski's family members stayed in the court to hear closing arguments in the trial of Michael Velez, who is accused of being Pride's getaway driver. The jury in that trial is expected to begin deliberations on Wednesday.

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