Judge reinstates charges against police officer in fatal shooting

A judge on Wednesday reinstated all charges, including a murder count, against a former police officer who shot and killed a driver through a rolled-up car window — a confrontation police initially described as the officer shooting the driver after he lunged at him with a knife outside the car.

Common Pleas Court Judge Lillian Ransom agreed with prosecutors that the facts of the case should be established at trial.

Former officer Mark Dial, 27, was charged with murder, manslaughter, official oppression and four other counts in the Aug. 14 shooting death of 27-yearold Eddie Irizarry during a traffic stop. Defense lawyers argued the officer could have feared for his life because he thought Irizarry had a gun, and a municipal court judge dismissed the case last month for lack of evidence.

Prosecutors quickly appealed, asking for the charges to be reinstated. The family of Irizarry, who was Hispanic, has said Dial, who is white, took an innocent life and should spend the rest of his life behind bars.

Dial, who bowed his head after Judge Ransom issued her ruling from the bench, was taken into custody without bail.

The defense is “obviously extremely disappointed,” Dial’s lawyer, Brian McMonagle, said outside court, but he added “we can’t wait to go to trial. The facts here are undeniable. Mark Dial did not commit a crime.”

Irizarry’s aunt, Zoraida Garcia, who ducked out of the courtroom just before the ruling because she feared becoming too emotional, said, “Today, I see that justice is being served. He’s going to jail.”

Another aunt, Ana Cintron, 50, said she was glad the judge decided the case should go to trial.

“I think we needed that as a family, we need that as a community, just to build up the trust, because a lot of the times it’s lost. Something like this really made us think twice,” she said.