Slain cop's friend moved to tears as drug suspect is convicted of murder - chicagotribune.com

The cop clutched a authentic jerseys wholesale nfl framed photograph and sat doubled more than on the courtroom bench, wracked with sobs immediately after a reputed drug seller had been convicted Thursday in the 2008 murder of Chicago police Officer Nathaniel Taylor.




After officers erupted in cheers and spectators commenced filing out of the packed courtroom, Officer Bert Munguia remained, crying for 15 minutes.












At 1st, he did so alone, but shortly he had other officers beside him. They place their arms around his shoulders and instructed him to permit it out.　 We obtained your back again,　 1 said.




The photograph clutched by Munguia showed him, Taylor and a number of other new-confronted cadets on the day they graduated from the academy in 1994. They ended up smiling, sporting blue dept shirts, waiting to be given the police stars to pin on them.




　We have been like brothers,　 Munguia said later, nevertheless wiping tears from his eyes.　 We did every thing together. He had a coronary heart of gold, and he was a great policeman.　




A Cook County jury took less than two hours to uncover Lamar Cooper, 40, guilty of initial-degree murder for the slaying of Taylor, 39, a veteran narcotics officer who was trying to serve a warrant to lookup Cooper's fortified residence.




Taylor's companion, Officer Lemornet Miller, returned fire, shooting Cooper nine instances, but Cooper survived.




Cooper's attorneys did not deny that their shopper sold medication or that he shot Taylor but preserved he did not know he was a police officer and fired in self-protection in what he imagined was an armed robbery. Taylor wore plainclothes but had his police star draped over his chest.




Cooper, who has a previous conviction for tried murder of a police officer, remained stone-faced as the verdict was introduced. He faces a obligatory lifestyle sentence without having the chance of parole. Judge Nicholas Ford could impose the sentence on Feb. 28.




　I am just joyful that Nate can finally rest in peace,　 Angel Gogins, the mother of Taylor's nine-year-aged daughter, explained as she still left the Criminal Courts Constructing.




Following the shooting in September 2008, neighbors explained Cooper was known as a devout Muslim frequently referred to as　 Islam　 who headed up the South Chicago block's community look at association and stored his lawn meticulous.




They believed the surveillance cameras mounted on his property, the protection fence and guard pet dogs were just safety actions in the higher-crime community.




But prosecutors referred to as Cooper a big-time drug dealer whose seriously fortified house contained loaded guns hidden in hollowed-out guides, police scanners, a bulletproof vest and a bag of cocaine in a basement freezer appropriate subsequent to a box of Popsicles. They also recovered keys to two standard bank safety-deposit containers containing far more than $260,000 in money.




Ahead of closing authentic jerseys wholesale nfl arguments began before Thursday, additional benches were introduced into the courtroom to try jersey wholesale out to accommodate the overflow crowd.




Whilst Chicago police Superintendent Garry McCarthy and State's Legal professional Anita Alvarez watched from the entrance row, the judge ordered that the courtroom doors stay open up so dozens a lot more police officers could hear the legal professionals from the hallway.




Cooper's lawyer LaFarrell Moffett argued that on the darkened street that early Sunday early morning, his consumer could not have observed Taylor's police star and thought that the burly, plainclothes officer was a robber creeping up on his automobile from driving.




　As a drug dealer in the streets of Chicago, he understood his lifestyle was constantly one action absent from becoming more than because folks desired his money or his turf or the two,　 Moffett explained.




But Assistant State's Lawyer James McKay informed jurors it was　 in the work description　 of any productive drug vendor to know how police work, including that narcotics officers often put on street clothes.




　He didn't want to go to jail,　 McKay stated.　 It truly is true basic.　




As McKay finished his argument, a flat display screen Tv displayed a department-issued photograph of Taylor grinning broadly, his police cap tipped ahead on his brow. Friends said the picture captured the ex-Maritime and dedicated father who was patient with absolutely everyone, getting the time to hear out even the most hardened criminal.




Munguia stated he'll never overlook the early morning his cellphone rang and he learned of Taylor's shooting.




The buddies had been sent to perform in diverse districts in the city's most harmful neighborhoods. But they grew closer personally, sharing tales from the road, laughing about the craziness of the work, conversing about their younger households, Munguia mentioned. His youngsters understood Taylor as　 Uncle Nate.　




　We believed we ended up really going to retire collectively, develop aged with each other,　 Munguia said.




jmeisner@tribune.comreport=2012-01-31data






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