Ex-Rikers guard guilty in jail slay
An ex-Rikers guard who brutally kicked to death a sick inmate was found guilty on all counts Thursday — and now faces life in prison.
After less than four hours of deliberation, a jury of five men and seven woman found that Brian Coll’s kicks caused Ronald Spear’s death, a crime that carries a maximum life sentence.
The jury also found Coll guilty on four other counts, including falsifying documents to cover up the brutal beating.
Spear’s stepmother, Margarette Daniels, cried as the jury read the verdict, while Spear’s sister, Deneen Cobbs, applauded.
“I’m just overwhelmed,” said Daniels, who attended the nearly twoweek trial every day. “My son can rest in peace.”
Prosecutors said Coll — who hung a newspaper article on the beating, putting it in a gold frame on a bedroom wall as a trophy — kicked Spear repeatedly in the head while the victim was restrained and lying on the ground. The beating caused Spear’s brain to bleed and his heart to stop.
Coll’s lawyers blasted the verdict, saying the government played on New Yorkers’ negative feelings about Rikers Island to win their case.
“The manner the government developed and argued their case to the jury was much more on sympathy than on facts,” attorney Sam Schmidt said. He said Coll will appeal. Sentencing was scheduled for April 24.
Several other guards have already pleaded guilty to helping Spear cover up the 2012 killing by blaming Spear’s death on his weakened physical condition.