Cop Killer Gets Life in Prison

Jury remains deadlocked forcing life sentence

Officer John Pawlowski‘s widow Kim has a message for her husband’s killer Rasheed Scrugs.

The Philadelphia jury charged with the duty of deciding whether or not cop killer Rasheed Scrugs would get the death penalty was deadlocked.

Without a consensus on the death penalty, Scrugs will be automatically sentenced to life in prison without parole.

"I hope he spends the rest of his life tortured by what he did to Johnny," Pawlowski's widow Kim tearfully said after the decision.

Scrugs pleaded guilty to first-degree murder on Oct. 21, just as his trial was slated to begin. Scrugs admitted shooting officer Pawlowski after he and his partner arrived to investigate a report of an attempted robbery of a cab driver in Feb. 2009.

Scrugs was arrested after being shot while fleeing from police.

The court recessed for a second time Friday afternoon after Judge Renee Cardwell Hughes said that it's clear that the jury has some real questions of law and she can’t let them lack clarity. Members of Philadelphia Police Officer John Pawlowski's family were crying in the courtroom, sources said.

Hughes said that she and the jury would stay as late as they’d like but by 4:30 everyone had gone home and would be coming back Monday.

On Monday the jury made no more headway leaving Hughes no choice but to sentence Scrugs to life.

Pawlowski's widow was visibly upset by the sentence as she held John Jr. while speaking to reporters.

"I'm angry and frustrated -- disappointed," she said. "Justice was not served."


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