FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — The Florida Supreme Court will not take up the case of former South Florida police Officer Nouman Raja, who was appealing his convictions for manslaughter and attempted murder.
Raja, 44, was convicted in 2019 of manslaughter by culpable negligence and attempted first-degree murder for killing Corey Jones, a stranded motorist, in 2015. He is serving a 25-year prison sentence.
Raja was the first police officer in Florida to be convicted of an on-duty shooting in three decades.
Jones, 31, was calling for a tow truck on Interstate 95 off-ramp in Palm Beach Gardens when he was confronted by Raja, who had been working in plain clothes for a car burglary operation.
Audio of the Oct. 18, 2015, confrontation was recorded on Jones’ cellphone through roadside assistance. That was not known to Raja, however. After the shooting, Raja called 911 from his personal cellphone and later made comments to investigators that were untruthful. When the recording surfaced, he was fired.
Months later, in June 2016, Raja was arrested and charged.
Prosecutors called Raja “confrontational” and said he lied about identifying himself as a police officer to Jones. Investigators said Raja was driving an unmarked, white van with no red and blue lights, as he was working an undercover assignment in a nearby mall parking lot.
He drove his van the wrong way down the exit ramp and then parked in a way that blocked Jones’ SUV from being able to drive forward.
Wearing just a tan T-shirt, jeans and a construction hat, Raja approached Jones and asked, “You good?” Jones said he was good multiple times as Raja responded each time with, “Really?”
Jones, armed with a handgun of his own and a concealed weapons license, pulled out his gun, likely fearing a robbery or carjacking. That’s when Raja shouted at Jones to put his hands up. Raja shot Jones, who died at the scene.
The former Palm Beach Gardens police officer is at a state prison in Ocala with a scheduled release date of Feb. 27, 2044, state records show.
Raja lost an appeal with the 4th District Court of Appeals in April. The Florida Supreme Court declined Friday to hear the case, but did not include any specifics about the decision in its two-paragraph decision.
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