A mixed verdict was reached for Mark Dial, the former Philadelphia police officer who was involved in the shooting death of Eddie Irizarry during a traffic stop in the city’s Kensington neighborhood back in August 2023.
The jury began deliberating on Wednesday, May 21, 2025, and continued on Thursday, May 22, before reaching their verdict. Dial was found not guilty of third-degree murder and official oppression. He was also found guilty of voluntary manslaughter, possession of an instrument of crime and recklessly endangering another person.
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The shooting of Eddie Irizarry
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SIGN UP On Aug. 14, 2023, Dial and his partner pulled Irizarry over along the 100 block of East Willard Street after he was driving the wrong way. Body-worn camera video shows Dial and his partner getting out of their vehicle with their guns drawn and approaching Irizarry’s car. Both Dial and his partner shouted at Irizarry though prosecutors and the defense have debated what exactly was said.
Six seconds after exiting the vehicle, Dial fired six shots through the car’s closed driver side window, striking and killing Irizarry.
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Philadelphia police initially told the media that Irizarry lunged at Dial and his partner which led to the shooting. They later said however that Irizarry was inside the car when he was shot, which the bodycam video shows.
At the time of the shooting, Dial’s defense team argued he acted in self-defense and believed Irizarry had a gun. Investigators said Irizarry did not have a gun however, though they said two knives were found inside his car.
Dial was initially charged with first-degree murder though a judge dismissed the murder charges in 2023. Those charges were then reinstated a few weeks later and Dial’s trial was set to take place last year. However, the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office withdrew the first-degree murder charges against Dial in August 2024, allowing him to be free on bail on third-degree murder charges.
The decision came after the defense argued to the court that the prosecution did not turn over a critical expert witness report that they commissioned and planned to use at the trial.
The trial of Mark Dial
Opening arguments in Dial's trial began on Monday, May 19, 2025. Philadelphia Police Officer Michael Morris, Dial's former partner who witnessed the shooting, also took the witness stand.
Morris said he believed he shouted "knife" before Dial opened fire at Irizarry. After watching and listening to the video of the shooting however, Dial's defense attorney asked Morris if it sounded like he shouted, "gun."
"From the video, yes, it sounds like I do say it," Morris said.
On Tuesday, May 20, the second day of the trial, several police officers testified about the role they played in the aftermath of the shooting. A member of the Crime Scene Unit narrated a video of the shooting and pointed out a kitchen knife that was positioned between Irizarry's driver seat and the center console of his vehicle as well as an opened folding knife in the front of the car.
Another witness, Philadelphia Police Lieutenant Nicholas Coco, said there were two knives in Irizarry's vehicle.
"Lieutenant, did you see a gun in the vehicle?" Assistant District Attorney Clarke Beljean asked.
"No," Lt. Coco replied.
Dial himself testified on Wednesday. The 29-year-old told the courtroom that when he fired the six shots that killed Irizarry, it was the first time he had used his service weapon in the line of duty.
As tears welled in his eyes, the five-year veteran of the force said he never wanted to fire his weapon in the first place.
"No," Dial responded when his defense attorney asked him if he wanted to fire his gun.
Dial was then prompted to explain why he fired the deadly gunshots.
"I didn't want to get shot in the face," said a crying Dial. "Sorry."
Dial and his partner claimed they saw Irizarry driving the wrong way along a Kensington street prior to the traffic stop on Aug. 14, 2023. While testifying on Wednesday, Dial claimed Morris told him Irizarry was armed.
"I looked over and saw Mike pointing his gun screaming, 'Show his hands,'" recalled Dial. "I pulled my gun... I thought [Irizarry] was armed based on what he was doing."
Dial said he began screaming for Irizarry to show his hands.
"I wanted him to put them in the air to know there was nothing threatening," said Dial. "I screamed I was going to shoot because I wanted him to put it down."
However, Irizarry didn't have a firearm.
In fact, while there were knives found in the vehicle, Irizarry never made any move to threaten the officers -- even though police initially claimed he was outside the vehicle and lunged at officers with a weapon when he was fatally shot.
Instead, at the time he was killed, Irizarry sat inside his car with his windows rolled up.
But, on the stand, Dial claimed as he approached the vehicle, he saw something in Irizarry's hand.
"It looked like it was the barrel of a gun. It was black, metallic," claimed Dial. "The end of it was pointed right at me."
After he fired six times into the vehicle, Dial said he ran away from the car.
"I didn't want to get shot," the former officer said. "I didn't know if he still had a gun in his hands."
Dial said he and his partner then rushed Irizarry to a nearby hospital.
"I wanted to try and save him," Dial told the court.
Following the shooting, Dial claimed he went into shock before he learned that Irizarry had died.
"It was one of the worst feelings of my life," Dial said.
On cross examination, Dial told prosecutors that he never spoke to his former partner about pulling over Irizarry ahead of the shooting.
And, prosecutors said, Dial exited the police vehicle before it came to a stop near Irizarry's car, never calling in his location or information on Irizarry's vehicle before the shooting occurred.
Reminded that his former partner testified that he remembered shouting "knife" on the day the shooting occurred, Dial said he was surprised by Morris' testimony.
"I only ever hear him say 'gun,'" said Dial.
Shortly after Dial took the stand, his defense attorneys rested their case. The jury then deliberated for two days before reaching their mixed verdict.
Dial's defense attorney, Brian McMonagle, reacted to the jury's decision on Thursday.
“This has been such a long journey for him from being charged with first-degree murder and those charges being dismissed,” he said. “And then the charges being reinstated on first-degree murder and then today being acquitted of murder in the third degree. Important for him but obviously we came here for the whole thing and we wanted him acquitted of everything.”
Dial's sentencing is scheduled for July 17, 2025. While the prosecution asked for Dial's bail to be revoked, the judge denied that motion.
Eddie Irizarry
Irizarry’s death sparked protests and outrage throughout Philadelphia.
“We actually want to seek justice for Eddie,” Irizarry’s aunt, Ana Cintron, said on Sunday. “And we knew in order to get justice for him, a trial has to go on.”
Irizarry’s family told NBC10 that his primary language was Spanish and he didn’t understand or speak English well. They also said he moved to the United States from Puerto Rico at the age of 19, had never been in trouble with the law and suffered from mental health issues, including schizophrenia, for “many, many years.”
