New Yorker Charged in October Police Killing

(CN) - About a month after the murder of a New York City police officer in Harlem, prosecutors indicted 31-year-old Tyrone Howard on Tuesday for the shooting.

"This week, the family of Detective Randolph Holder will have to spend their first holiday with an empty seat at the table," Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance said in a statement. "The death of Detective Holder shook our city, and left his loved ones without a fiance, a son, and a brother. The defendant in this case, Tyrone Howard, is charged with willfully and maliciously murdering one of New York's Finest. This prosecution will not bring back this brave public servant, but we hope, by seeking justice, it will bring a measure of comfort for Detective Holder's family, his colleagues in the NYPD, and the city as a whole."

Officer Holder was shot at about 8:43 p.m. on Oct. 20, 2015, near the East River Promenade at the East 120th Street foot bridge.

Howard is accused of jumping off of his bike to shoot the officer, then running away.

The New York Times reported that police had been hunting Howard at the time of the shooting in connection to a gun charge, after a series of cases in which prosecutors failed to land a conviction against the New Yorker.

One case in which Howard had been snared but not convicted involved a shakeup of suspected drug dealers at the East River Houses, the public housing project where Howard was raised.

The indictment filed against Howard on Tuesday alleges aggravated murder, first-degree murder, second-degree murder, robbery in the first degree, second-degree criminal possession of a weapon, first-degree reckless endangerment, and second-degree criminal possession of a forged instrument.

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