Queens District Attorney Melinda is urging the state parole board to keep David McClary behind bars for the 1988 assassination of rookie cop Edward Byrne in South Jamaica.
File photo courtesy of DA’s office
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced on Monday that she wrote a letter to the state parole board to urge the body to keep David McClary behind bars for the 1988 assassination of New York City Police Officer Edward Byrne. The rookie cop was murdered as he sat in his patrol car guarding the South Jamaica home of a witness in a drug case during the height of the city’s crack epidemic.
On the evening of Feb. 26, 1988, Byrne was posted outside the home of a witness, tasked with the man’s protection after the witness received numerous threats from drug dealers against whom he was scheduled to testify. As Officer Byrne sat alone in his marked police car, McClary’s co-defendant Todd Scott approached the passenger side window to distract him, while McClary advanced from the driver’s side and fired his weapon five times just inches from Officer Byrne’s head. Byrne was killed instantly.
Rookie Police Officer Edward Byrne was just 22 years old when he was shot multiple times at point-blank range by killers sent by a drug kingpin to send a message to the NYPD at the height of the crack epidemic.Photo courtesy of the NYPD
Rookie Police Officer Edward Byrne was sitting in a marked squad car protecting the home of a witness in a major drug case when he was gunned down in the vehicle.Photo courtesy of the NYPD
In June 1989 a jury convicted McClary of murder in the second degree and criminal possession of a weapon in the second degree. He was sentenced to indeterminate terms of 25 years to life for the murder and five to 15 years for the weapons conviction.
The brutal slaying was orchestrated by Phillip Copeland at the behest of local drug “kingpin” Howard “Pappy” Mason. Copeland enlisted McClary, Todd Scott and Scott Cobb to carry out Officer Byrne’s execution. All three were convicted of murder. The parole board released Cobb in 2023.
After years of denials, McClary finally admitted that he was the shooter during a parole board hearing in July 2025. The board denied his request for release at that time.
The upcoming hearing will take place the week of Oct. 19.
The men and women of the 103rd Precinct gather at the intersection every year to commemorate the Byrne’s murder.Photo courtesy of the NYPD
“Nearly six years have passed since I wrote my initial letter in opposition to David McClary’s release and my position has not wavered,” Katz said Monday. “This execution was nothing short of an act of domestic terrorism designed to challenge the long established and universally accepted laws of civilized society.”
The Byrne assassination had a prolonged impact on the NYPD and city leaders join police brass and the men and women of the 103rd Precinct at the stroke of midnight every Feb. 26 to commemorate the rookie cop’s murder at the South Jamaica intersection where it occurred. His assassination shocked the entire nation and impacted law enforcement agencies across the country. Former President George H.W. Bush carried Byrne’s shield with him when he campaigned in 1988. After winning the presidency, he displayed Byrne’s shield on this desk for the remainder of his years in office as a reminder of one man’s sacrifice against the forces of lawlessness, Katz wrote in her letter to the state parole board dated Sept. 28.
“McClary and his accomplices killed an on-duty police officer in an attempt to disrupt the safety of our city on the most fundamental level,” Katz said Monday. “He should remain behind bars where he belongs.”
Patrolman’s Benevolent Association Patrick Hendry lauded Katz for her letter to the parole board and urged all New Yorkers to do the same. Hendry is still assigned to the 103rd Precinct and has drawn inspiration over the years from the tribute memorial in the lobby of the station house.
PBA President Patrick Henry applauded the DA’s move. He is still assigned to the 103rd Precinct and draws inspiration from a tribute memorial to Byrne that remains in the lobby of the station house more than nearly four decades after his murder.Photo courtesy of the NYPD
“P.O. Eddie Byrne’s murder was the turning point that rallied cops and the community to take back our streets from murderous drug gangs. We can’t afford to go backwards,” Hendry said in a statement on Monday. “We applaud DA Katz from taking a stand to keep this cold-blooded assassin behind bars where he belongs. We need all New Yorkers to join her, by visiting nycpba.org and submitting their petition to keep cop-killers in jail.”