A jury convicted a Virginia Beach man on Wednesday for his alleged role in the 2008 shooting death of a police officer during an undercover narcotics operation.
Marshall Demetrius Moyd was found guilty of first-degree murder, robbery and weapons charges after a seven-day trial in circuit court. The jury recommended a sentence of 68 years in prison. Judge Patricia L. West will formally sentence Moyd in January.
The other suspect, Ted Vincent Carter, had already pleaded guilty to capital murder, robbery and weapons charges and was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Moyd and Carter were charged in the shooting death of Det. Michael Phillips on Aug. 7, 2008. According to the police report, Phillips was working undercover at the Green Run Shopping Center and had arranged to meet with Moyd for a drug transaction. According to the police report, Moyd rode with Phillips to a second location, where Carter shot him at least three times. Phillips died at the scene.
The Phillips family issued the following statement through the commonwealth's attorney's office: "Our family is very pleased with the verdict of the trial. . . . We know losing Mike wasn't just our loss, or a loss of a fellow officer, but a loss to the Virginia Beach community. Mike's death will never have closure-as he touched so many lives- but today we have justice."
Copyright 2011 - Daily Press, Newport News, Va.
McClatchy-Tribune News Service
