Cop Killer Sentenced to Death

Lewis will be the 222nd inmate on the state's death row

By DANIELLE JOHNSON

Updated 9:09 PM EST, Tue, Nov 24, 2009

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John Costello / Inquirer

A Philadelphia judge has sentenced confessed cop killer John "Jordan" Lewis to death by lethal injection for the murder of Philadelphia Police Officer Chuck Cassidy.

A jury of eight women and four men voted unanimously to sentence Lewis to death for shooting the 25-year veteran in the head as he walked in on Lewis robbing a West Oak Lane Dunkin’ Donuts on Oct. 31, 2007.

Officer Cassidy died the next day.

In addition to the death penalty, Common Pleas Court Judge Jeffrey Minehart sentenced Lewis to an additional 76 to 152 years for robbery and firearms charges.

Cassidy's Widow on Verdict: It Doesn't Make Us Feel Better

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Cassidy's Widow on Verdict: It Doesn't Make Us Feel Better

Earlier this month Lewis confessed to murdering Officer Cassidy and was convicted of first-degree murder last week.

After he was sentenced, Lewis apologized to the Cassidy family.

"I took the sentence with honor for Chuck and my family. I apologize deeply but words cannot express that. I am going to stand up like a man and take responsibility for the action that I have done," he told the court before being sentenced to death.

Cassidy's widow, Judy, took the stand for the third time and addressed Lewis directly.

"You chose to look my husband in the eye and assassinate him," said Cassidy.

She later told reporters waiting outside the courtroom that the verdict was of little comfort.

"It doesn't make us feel any better. We're glad this is over but we go home now and still deal with this," said Judy Cassidy.

Sentencing deliberations began Tuesday morning after jurors heard closing arguments in the penalty phase of the trial for the 23-year old criminal.

Defense attorney Bernard Siegel told jurors his client was a young man who had thrown himself at their mercy. But prosecutors say the circumstances call for the death penalty.

Jurors returned with the verdict an hour after deliberating.

On Monday, a hearing for Lewis was postponed because of a funeral for a friend of defense attorney Bernard Siegel.

Lewis will be the 222nd inmate on the state’s death row, according to the state Department of Corrections reports the Daily News.