Kelvin Vickers pleads not guilty to murder of RPD officer
[anvplayer video=”5127865″ station=”998131″]
ROCHESTER, N.Y. (WHEC) — At his arraignment in court on Wednesday morning, Kelvin Vickers pleaded not guilty to the murder of Rochester police officer Tony Mazurkiewicz.
The grand jury previously indicted Vickers, 21 of Massachusetts, on eight charges. The most severe charge is aggravated murder, for the fatal shooting of Officer Mazurkiewicz during an ambush. The charge carries a sentence of life in prison without parole if convicted.
Vickers’ next court appearance will be in November. The pre-trial hearing is on December 6 and trials are usually held about six months after an indictment from the grand jury.
District Attorney Sandra Doorley was reading the charges in court when the defense attorney for Vickers interrupted to say that his client pleads not guilty to all charges.
Wednesday was Vickers’ second arraignment. He was arraigned on his initial charges shortly after he was taken into custody and now again after the grand jury announced additional charges.
District Attorney Sandra Doorley said the aggravated murder charge alleges that Vickers knew that he was ambushing police officers.
The man charged with the murder of Rochester police officer Tony Mazurkiewicz will be arraigned on Wednesday at 9:30 am.
“The allegation is that the defendant knew or reasonably should have known that the individual was a police officer at the time of his actions,” Doorley said.
Vickers is also charged with two counts of assault for the shooting of Officer Sino Seng and 15-year-old Tamaia Walker during the ambush on July 21.
Here is the list of charges:
- Attempted Aggravated Murder
- Murder in the 2nd Degree
- Attempted Aggravated Murder
- Attempted Murder in the 2nd Degree
- Two counts Assault in the 2nd Degree
- Two counts of Criminal Possession of a Weapon
Doorley announced the grand jury’s decision at a press conference on Wednesday. RPD Chief David Smith, Mayor Malik Evans, and County Executive Adam Bello also attended.
Mayor Malik Evans thanked the police who have continued to do their job despite the murder of Officer Mazurkiewicz.
“This is not only a nightmare for them and the Mazurkiewicz family but it’s a nightmare for our city. But the way we drive out darkness is to bring in more light and the way to bring light is by making sure we have justice,” he said.
Kelvin Vickers was born and raised near Boston. He just got out of a maximum security prison in Massachusetts on May 24. He was not on parole or supervised after he was released.
Police said Vickers was 12 years old when he faced charges of assault and battery on an officer. Before his 18th birthday, he would be charged with burglary-related offenses, strangulation with a deadly weapon, assault with a deadly weapon, and two separate possession of firearms offenses. When he was 18 he was convicted of possessing an unlicensed firearm.
He’s been in the Monroe County Jail for two weeks and he hasn’t had one visitor. News10NBC’s Berkeley Brean asked ‘what is he doing here?’
Doorley: “I can tell you that I believe he was released from the Boston (Massachusetts) department of corrections on May 24th, 2022 and he ended up here in Rochester.”
Brean: “And I think the public wants to know why.”
Doorley: “And I’m not going to comment on that further Berkeley. But he’s not a Rochester resident. He was just released from prison. He was here and now he is accused of killing a police officer.”