Ex-cop Nouman Raja guilty in roadside killing of Corey Jones
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. _ Former police officer Nouman Raja is guilty of armed manslaughter and attempted first-degree murder for shooting stranded motorist Corey Jones to death in a roadside encounter, a Palm Beach County jury decided Thursday.
Raja, 41, had no visible reaction to the decision by the panel of four men and two women reached after nearly five hours of deliberations over two days. The moment arrived more than three years after Jones was gunned down at 3:15 a.m. Oct. 18, 2015, in a Palm Beach Gardens highway off-ramp.
"Justice ... can be maddeningly slow," State Attorney Dave Aronberg told reporters. "But it is justice."
Defense attorneys Richard Lubin, Scott Richardson and Rick King later issued a statement: "The entire defense team is devastated by the jury's verdict. We believe in Nouman Raja's innocence and we will continue to stand behind him as his case is reviewed by the judge and, if necessary, the appellate courts."
Circuit Judge Joseph Marx immediately ordered Raja to be placed in handcuffs and taken to the Palm Beach County Jail to await sentencing on April 26. He faces a minimum term of 25 years in prison and a maximum sentence of life.
Raja, who claimed he acted in self-defense after seeing Jones with a gun, is believed to be the first police officer convicted in an on-duty shooting in Florida in the last 30 years.
_ South Florida Sun Sentinel
