The Latest: Union: Verdict ‘just’ for teen in NY cop’s death

NEW YORK – The Latest on the trial of a New York City teenager who prosecutors say started a mattress fire that killed a police officer and injured his partner (all times local):

7:45 p.m.

The president of New York City’s rank-and-file police union says the conviction of a teenager who set a mattress fire that killed a police officer and injured his partner was a “just verdict.”

Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association President Patrick Lynch said Thursday that jurors made a difficult, but just decision when they found Marcell Dockery guilty of murder, arson and assault charges.

Prosecutors say Dockery set fire to a mattress in a Brooklyn apartment building in April 2014.

New York Police Department officers Dennis Guerra (GEHR’-uh) and Rosa Rodriguez were trapped in the fire and overcome by smoke.

Guerra died three days later. Rodriguez spent six weeks in a hospital.

Dockery’s attorney has said his client didn’t set the fire and was trying to save other residents.

__

6 p.m.

A teenager who prosecutors say set a mattress fire that killed a New York City police officer and injured another officer has been found guilty of murder.

Eighteen-year-old Marcell Dockery also was convicted of arson and assault charges Thursday after a trial at Brooklyn Supreme Court.

New York Police Department officers Dennis Guerra (GEHR’-uh) and Rosa Rodriguez were trapped in the April 6, 2014 fire and overcome by smoke in the Brooklyn apartment building.

Guerra died three days later. Rodriguez spent six weeks in a hospital.

Dockery testified in his own defence, and said he discovered the fire and tried to save other residents.

In a note announcing the verdict, jurors wrote to the judge that Dockery “didn’t mean to harm anyone” and that they “hope leniency can be shown.”