THE BRONX, N.Y. (PIX11) \u2013 Opening up for the first time since the guilty verdict, Pearl Velez said her children still ask for their father.\u00a0 Eric Duprey was killed two years ago by an NYPD sergeant who hurled a plastic picnic cooler at the father.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was summertime, everybody outside, picnic, family time,\u201d Velez said of Aug. 23, 2023. Five minutes after leaving a family picnic, she said, their lives changed forever. \u201cThey ask, \u2018Where\u2019s my dad? I miss daddy. I need to talk to daddy.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
More Local News <\/a><\/p>\n On Friday, Bronx Supreme Court Judge Guy Mitchell found Sgt. Erik Duran<\/a> was guilty of second-degree manslaughter in the death of Duprey following a four-week bench trial.<\/p>\n \u201cThe fact that the defendant is a police officer has no bearing,\u201d Mitchell said before delivering the verdict. \u201cHe\u2019s a person and will be treated as any other defendant.\u201d<\/p>\n Duran, 38, assigned to a narcotics unit, was seen on surveillance video grabbing a red picnic cooler filled with ice, water, and soda and hurling it at Duprey, who was fleeing from police on a moped.<\/p>\n The cooler struck Duprey, who was not wearing a helmet. He lost control, crashed into a tree, and landed beneath a parked car. Prosecutors said he suffered fatal head injuries and died almost instantly.<\/p>\n Duran testified that he had only seconds to react and was trying to protect fellow officers as Duprey sped toward them.<\/p>\n \u201cHe was gonna crash into us,\u201d Duran said in court. \u201cI didn\u2019t have time. All I had time for was to try again to stop or to try to get him to change directions.\u201d<\/p>\n Make PIX11 your preferred news source on Google: Here\u2019s how <\/a><\/p>\n Defense attorneys argued Duprey was driving about 40 mph on the sidewalk and \u201cplacing lives of everyone at risk, particularly Sgt. Duran,\u201d calling the officer\u2019s actions a split-second decision to save lives.<\/p>\n Prosecutors countered that Duprey posed no threat and that Duran acted recklessly and out of frustration, choosing to throw the cooler rather than warn others to move.<\/p>\n The police sergeants\u2019 union criticized the decision, calling it a \u201cmiscarriage of justice.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cOutrageous verdicts, such as this one, send a terrible message to hard-working cops everywhere,\u201d said Vincent Vallelong, president of the Sergeants Benevolent Association. He said the union\u2019s fight for Duran\u2019s \u201cfreedom and his total exoneration is far from over.\u201d<\/p>\n The NYPD confirmed he was dismissed following the conviction, as required by state law. He faces up to 15 years in prison at sentencing, scheduled for April.<\/p>\n Black Lives Matter activists Hawk and Chivona Newsome, who pushed for charges in the case, said they are now circulating petitions ahead of sentencing.<\/p>\n