The Brooklyn teen who set a mattress on fire, sparking a blaze that killed an NYPD officer, was sentenced to 19 years to life in prison Tuesday. Marcell Dockery was convicted of murder last month after a jury trial for the April 6, 2014, inferno inside the 13th-floor hallway of the high-rise on Surf Avenue in Coney Island that killed Officer Dennis Guerra. "A senseless act of arson cost a very courageous police officer his life and destroyed the health and career of another heroic officer" said Brooklyn District Attorney Ken Thompson. “The sentence imposed by the court today reflects the severity of the crime committed by the defendant.” Marcell Dockery talks to his attorney, Jesse Young, at the New York State Supreme Courthouse in Brooklyn on Tuesday. Guerra died three days after he and his partner Officer Rosa Rodriguez were engulfed by a dark cloud of smoke responding to the fire. Rodriguez suffered permanent damage to her lungs. "The family acknowledges that when Marcell Dockery set fire to the mattress he didn't mean to hurt anyone that day — but others suffered by his actions," Guerra's widow Cathy Guerra said in a victim impact statement given in Brooklyn Supreme Court Tuesday.
Dockery was convicted of murder last month after a jury trial for the April 6, 2014, inferno inside the 13th-floor hallway of the high-rise in Coney Island that killed Officer Dennis Guerra. Kathy Guerra requested that Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice Danny Chun give Dockery "the help he needs" for his "history of arson." The heartbroken widow tearfully told the judge that her children continue to suffer without Guerra, who was not only their father but a role model and friend. Prosecutor Howard Jackson recommended sending Dockery to prison for 18 years to life, noting his lack of remorse and his repeated accusations of the NYPD coercing a confession from him. Justice Chun slammed the notion that Dockery, then 16, alerted his neighbors that a fire occurred and to get out. "There was nothing valiant about his actions that day," said Justice Chun. Dockery declined to give a statement regarding his sentencing, but after the justice delivered the sentence he pleaded guilty to a robbery he committed in February 2014.
The charred mattress was used as evidence in the murder trial against Dockery. Dockery will be sentenced to two years in prison for the robbery that will run together with his murder conviction. Mockery's attorney Jesse Young intends to file a motion to appeal based on the judge's denial to allow a false confession witness. Kathy Guerra, Dennis Guerra's widow requested that the judge give Dockery "the help he needs" for his "history of arson."NEWSBrooklyn teen convicted in 2014 mattress fire death of NYPD officer sentenced to 19 years to life Kemberly Richardson reports on sentencing for the teen who set a mattress fire that killed an NYPD officer. The teenager convicted of killing an NYPD officer by setting a mattress on fire in Coney Island in 2014 was sentenced Tuesday to 19 years to life in prison.Marcel Dockery was found guilty last month of all three counts he was facing, murder, assault and arson.
He was 16 when he set the fire inside his building that killed Officer Dennis Guerra. Guerra's partner, Rosa Rodriguez, sustained permanent lung damage in the fire. Both were immediately overcome by smoke and carbon monoxide when they responded to the scene.Dockery faced a sentence of 25 years to life in prison.In court Tuesday, a letter was read from Officer Guerra's son, saying 'Your boredom took away a hero'. Dockery told authorities he set the fire because he was bored."At least we know that justice was served, is being done," said Officer Guerra's mother Miriam."I can't bring my son back. Justice, I believe was served and he'll have to pay the consequences of what he did," said the officer's father, Dennis Guerra.The officer's widow Cathy spoke in court about watching him slowly die in the hospital and how her 7-year-old son, the youngest of the couple's four children, told her "Poppy is sleeping. He will wake up and come home.""For the past year and a half, Zachary had refused to sleep in his own room," she said.
"As much as I have tried to convince him that a big boy that must sleep in his bed, he did not want to sleep there unless it was his father tucking him in at night. Zachary always felt safe seeing his father every night before going to sleep but did not have that security anymore. Along with the nightmares, fear of seeing/looking at fires, failing school grades, crying spells, and anger outbursts, Zachary is now facing anxiety. There are times that I cannot go out with others without him calling me and crying for me to come home."At the trial, a videotaped confession from Dockery was played in which he told police he lit the corner of the mattress on fire because he was bored while waiting for his cousins, who also live in the building, to open their door.:When Police Officers Guerra and Rodriguez responded to that fire inside that building, they did so to save lives," said Brooklyn District Attorney Kenneth Thompson. "However, a senseless act of arson cost a very courageous police officer his life and destroyed the health and career of another heroic officer.
The sentence imposed by the court today reflects the severity of the crime committed by the defendant."MIAMI (WSVN) - A man with a deformed skull has been charged with arson and attempted murder after he set his mattress on fire. On Monday, at 2:37 p.m., 31-year-old Carlos Rodriguez set his mattress on fire at his home, located at 266 N.W. 61 Ave., according to City of Miami Police. According to the arrest report, police arrived to find Rodriguez in his backyard. During the fire, there were two victims inside of a duplex, which is connected to the house. One of the victims’ mother, Anicia Rodriguez, owns the building. Upon further investigation, the fire was deliberately set by Carlos Rodriguez, said police, which posed a threat to the occupants. Rodriguez appeared in bond court, Tuesday, where a judge gave him $20,000 bond. Rodriguez explained to the Daily Mail that he lost a large portion of his brain and skull in a car crash. He flew through his car’s windshield and landed head-first onto the road.