A Brooklyn jury has cleared an NYPD officer of all charges Monday for the fatal off-duty shooting of an unarmed motorist following a July 2016 road rage incident — sparking outrage among activists and the victim’s family.
The panel of seven women and five men found cop Wayne Isaacs not guilty of charges of second-degree murder and first-degree manslaughter following nearly 14 hours of deliberation.
“Every piece of evidence pointed to a guilty verdict. Every single piece. He’s a murderer —that’s it,” fumed Victor Dempsey, the brother of Delrawn Small, who was killed by the officer in July 2016.
“How the hell are we supposed to feel now?” he raged.
Small’s tearful sister, Victoria Davis, sobbed, “I don’t know what the hell happened in this system that they didn’t find him guilty.”
“He took everything from us!” she wailed.
Isaacs had faced anywhere from 25 years to life behind bars if convicted on the murder charge. After the verdict, the cop smiled and hugged his friends and family.
Isaacs took the stand in his own defense, compellingly telling jurors he feared for his life when Delrawn Small charged at his car just after midnight on July 4, and claiming the father of two screamed, “I’m gonna f–king kill you” as he punched him in the face.
The 38-year-old cop admitted to firing three shots at Small, all of which hit him.
But after the verdict, furious onlookers lashed out Iaasics — and the jury.
“Are you f-–ing kidding me?” shouted Black Lives Matter President Hawk Newsome. “No! You’re a murderer!”
Newsome turned to the jury and cried, “You let him get away with it! The whole system is corrupt.”
As Isaacs left the courthouse, an onlooker shouted, “I hope you burn in hell!”
The officer looked away as he was escorted onto an escalator outside.
”Surveillance footage first obtained by The Post shows Small–whose girlfriend and stepdaughter testified tearfully that the officer had cut them off minutes earlier in traffic–leaning into the car before he staggers backward, spins, and falls face down between two cars.
Prosecutors allege Small never punched Isaacs.
Isaacs was the first officer to be tried under an executive ruling by Governor Cuomo that gives the Attorney General’s office the power to prosecute officers involved in civilian deaths.
After the verdict, Brooklyn Supreme Court Judge Alexander Jeong told Isaacs, “I’m sure it was difficult for you…Only you know what happened out there.”
He added, “No one’s passing any judgement — we can only hope that there are no incidents like this in the future.”