Rodney J. Andrews
The Ultimate Sacrifice
At around 8:00 PM on Monday, March 10, 2003, during a gun buy-and-bust operation at St. Paul’s Avenue and Hannah Street in the Tompkinsville section of Staten Island, Detectives James Nemorin and Rodney Jay Andrews, both undercovers with the elite Firearms Investigation Unit, were shot and killed as they rode in their leased black Nissan Maxima with two young thugs — 17-year old Jessie Jacobus and 20-year old Ronell Wilson — who were associates of a 19-year old illegal gun dealer named Omar Green.
The detectives were on their way to purchase a Tech-9 submachine gun from Green, who had previously sold firearms to members of the unit. Whether the punks in the car suspected the undercovers were cops, or whether they decided to rob the detectives of their $1,200 in buy money (but botched the job) still remains unclear; but in an instant, they executed both detectives at close range, dragged them out of the car and stole the Nissan.
Nemorin and Andrews apparently never had a chance to respond: they were found with their guns and their buy money intact.
The detectives’ back-up team, who lost contact with the undercovers briefly because of the technical limitations of their Kel monitoring devices, found the bodies and rushed the detectives to St. Vincent’s hospital, where they were pronounced dead. The Mayor declared the shootings an act of “barbarism.”
An immediate and widespread manhunt was launched for all six suspects in the double homicide. Within 48 hours, the principal players were in custody: Triggerman Wilson was arrested when trying to take a livery cab from Red Hook to Staten Island; and gun dealer Green was disguised in drag on the Staten Island Ferry when a woman passenger told cops, “Either that’s a guy or the ugliest woman I ever saw.”
Both Nemorin and Andrews were formidably sized men: large in physical stature and large and generous of heart.
Det. Andrews, who was raised on the Upper West Side of Manhattan and served as a Navy Seal before joining the force, was 34, divorced, with two sons, ages 11 and 12. His former wife, Maryann, also a police officer in the NYPD, says the detective was totally devoted to his children.
Det. Nemorin was 36. He was born and raised with seven siblings in Haiti and moved to Brooklyn at the age of 21. His immediate goal was to join the police force and he first served in the City’s volunteer Auxiliary. Nemorin earned a degree in criminal justice from John Jay College in 1999. He and his widow, Rose-Andre, and three children (ages five, seven, and 20 months) had recently moved to a new home in the suburbs.
Known for being a sharp dresser, Nemorin’s friends called him the “Haitian Sensation.” He was an avid soccer enthusiast and played for the PBA’s team and a local Haitian soccer club called the New York Soccer All-Stars. A member of the Haitian American Law Enforcement Fraternal Organization, he’s believed to be the first NYPD officer killed in the line of duty to hail from that Caribbean island.
Both Nemorin and Andrews had gone to the Police Academy together, were both seven-year veterans of the force, and were both former narcotics officers.
Within days of their murders, three of the perpetrators — Omar Green, Jessie Jacobus, and 16-year old Mitchell Diaz — all pled guilty to second-degree murder charges. Green set up the gun deal; Diaz supplied the murder weapon (a 44-caliber revolver found in an apartment hallway near the scene of the crime); and Jacobus claims he sat in the back seat of the car next to shooter Wilson.
On May 8, 21-year old Paris Bullock, who hid the gun used in the shooting, was also indicted in the case, but pled not guilty. A sixth suspect was also nabbed: 19-year old Michael Whitten, who was involved in an earlier gun sale.
Others were also arraigned in the case, including Diaz’ mother and brother, the two women, Chikenya Collier and Danae Pope, who shielded Wilson and Green in the hours after the murders.
Thousands of mourners attended each of the heroes’ full-Inspectors’ funerals. Det. Nemorin was buried on Saturday, March 15th after a service at Our Lady of Refuge Church in Flatbush, where mass was recited in English, French, and Creole. Fellow officers came from across the U.S. to pay their respects to this “gentle giant” of a man.
Det. Andrews was buried on Tuesday, March 18th after a service at Elim International Fellowship Church in the Bedford-Stuyvesant section of Brooklyn. At the funeral, Commissioner Kelly, who called Andrews a “fearless police officer who loved his job and was passionately devoted to his work,” cited Andrews’ outstanding record of 40 gun buys in less than five months with the Firearms Unit. On the same day as the funeral, triggerman Ronell Wilson was indicted on first-degree murder charges.
On April 3rd, Wilson was charged with multiple counts of first and second-degree murder, attempted robbery and other crimes, and could face the death penalty. He pled not guilty.
The shootings prompted a number of controversial issues to be brought to the forefront, including: Staten Island Judge Leonard Rienzi’s secret closed-door arraignment of three of the suspects (the Judge cited the defendants’ safety concerns); the faultiness of the Kel monitoring devices; the Southern pedigrees of a large number of guns that are used in such criminal endeavors; and the paltry penalties meted out to those who traffic in illegal firearms.
Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly promoted posthumously both Nemorin and Andrews to detective first grade.
To assist in the welfare of the five children of the two detectives, the DEA has established The March 10th Undercover Fund, under the auspices of the DEA’s Widows’ and Children’s Fund. The Fund will help meet the educational and other needs of the children as they come of age. Donations can be made by check or money order made payable to the DEA Widows’ and Children’s Fund and sent to the attention of ...
The March 10th Undercover Fund
DEA
26 Thomas Street
New York, NY 10007
Attn: Vic Cipullo, Vice President
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On Wednesday, August 2, 2006 four members of the Stapleton Crew, the Staten Island gang responsible for the murders of Detectives James Nemorin and Rodney Jay Andrews, were sentenced in
Statement issued by DEA President Michael J. Palladino on the sentencing of
“Although there is no amount of restitution that could bring back the lives of New York Police Department Detectives James Nemorin and Rodney Jay Andrews, we’re gratified that those responsible for their homicides are finally being brought to justice.
“Detectives Andrews and Nemorin were two hardworking and fearless men who dedicated their lives to the betterment of society. As members of the NYPD’s Firearms Investigations Unit, they worked to eradicate the cancer of illegal gun trafficking. During the course of an undercover buy and bust operation, they were executed at point blank range.
“Putting away these four defendants for life would be too little punishment. However, the court has spoken and we accept the sentences. These four defendants will serve a significant amount of time behind bars, tucked away from society and, we hope, unable to wreak any more havoc on the lives of decent citizens and law enforcement officers.
“To ensure that justice for Nemorin and Andrews is properly served, our focus is now on the pursuit of the death penalty for Ronell Wilson, the trigger-man in this case.”
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The trial of Ronell Wilson, killer of Detectives James Nemorin and Rodney Jay Andrews, ended December 20, 2006, with the jury bringing back a guilty verdict on all ten counts.
The penalty phase of his trial began on January 16, 2007, and DEA President Michael Palladino issued the following statement:
“Today, the penalty phase of the murder trial of Ronell Wilson began in Brooklyn Federal Court, Eastern District.
“Today, when the victims’ families and co-workers spoke before the jury, the highly emotional testimony brought to light the severe damage and pain that Wilson’s cold-blooded and ruthless actions inflicted upon the Nemorin and Andrews families.
“It is now my understanding that Ronell Wilson, during these final hours before his sentencing, suddenly wishes to make a statement to the jury, even though, for the past three years, he sat through his own trial emotionless, remorseless, and even declared to witnesses that he ‘didn’t give a f-- about anyone.’ But now that he is facing death, he is suddenly running scared.
“I wish to make it clear to all those who continually say that the death penalty is not a deterrent to crime, that this last minute attempt of Ronell Wilson to save his own skin is proof positive that the death penalty is a deterrent. Now that he is facing what he so glibly netted out to others,
“Ronell Wilson executed two hardworking New York Police Department detectives who devoted their lives to the citizens of
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On Tuesday, January 30th, 2007 the jury agreed and sentenced Ronell Wilson to death. Judge Nicholas Garaufis formally handed down the death sentence on March 29, 2007, marking the first time in 50 years that the death penalty was netted out in
On Wednesday, June 30, 2010, the Second United States Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that prosecutors made a legal error in the trial of Ronell Wilson, who, in 2003, shot and killed NYPD Firearms Investigation Unit undercover Detectives James Nemorin and Rodney J. Andrews during an illegal gun buy and bust on Staten Island. While Wilson’s conviction still stands, two members of a three judge panel struck down Wilson’s death sentence.
It is unclear whether the three judge panel that voided the death sentence did so as an immutable point of law or whether they were, years later, subjectively re-interpreting transcripts and making a judgment call regarding what was said by the prosecutors at trial, since the comments at trial were not corrected by Judge Garifus, the point the panel believed now warrants the voiding of Wilson’s sentence.
DEA President Palladino pointed out during his press conference at the union’s headquarters on June 30, 2010, that Wilson was convicted and sentenced by a 12 member jury based upon overwhelming evidence, his remorseless demeanor in court, his posing a threat both inside and outside prison, and his continuation of illegal activity in trying to engineer violence against other subjects in Pennsylvania.
Palladino added, “This is what moved the jury to impose the death sentence, not a few remarks by the prosecutors handling the case. However, here we are, years later, and the panel reviewing the transcript has now ruled that Wilson’s death sentence must be tossed out and the killer be re-sentenced by a new jury. It will take a miracle,” added Palladino, “to garner the same death sentence without a jury being able to hear witnesses, testimony, view the killer’s original demeanor, and hear all the evidence presented during the original trial.”
The panel’s decision sent shockwaves through the families of the slain Detectives, the members of the NYPD, and the American law enforcement community.
Rose Nemorin, widow of Det. James Nemorin, and Det. Maryanne Andrews, former wife of Det. Rodney Andrews, were too distraught to comment to the press. Det. Andrews likened the situation to having a partially healed wound that had been ripped open again. Their concerns are for the three Nemorin and two Andrews children who lost their fathers in 2003.
Said Rose Nemorin when she heard the panel’s decision, “I feel like I stepped backwards in time, experiencing the same feelings I had on March 10, 2003 when my husband was killed.”
The Court’s 115-page decision is now being reviewed by the prosecutor in the original case, Colleen Cavanaugh, who is examining the options, which include appealing to the full panel of the Second Circuit Court or possibly taking the case to the United States Supreme Court.
The DEA would like to thank Ms. Cavanaugh and Jack Smith (now a federal judge), who did an outstanding job during Wilson’s original trial. Said Det. Palladino, “Although we respect the Court’s ruling, we disagree completely with the decision. We fully support the jury’s original death sentence in this case and hope to see this remorseless, ruthless killer face the ultimate penalty he received and justly deserves.”
UPDATE as of August 13, 2010 –
The United States Attorney for the Eastern District sought and received permission from Washington, DC to make a motion before the Second Circuit Federal Appeals Court requesting a rehearing before the entire court in an effort to reverse the three judge panel’s decision to overturn the death penalty sentence of Ronell Wilson, who was convicted of murdering Detectives, James Nemorin ad Rodney Jay Andrews on March 10, 2003.
With the Justice Department’s blessing, Assistant U.S. Attorney Colleen Cavanaugh filed that motion. The U.S. Attorney’s Office is seeking to reargue the case before the full court of approximately 15 judges who sit on the Second Circuit Appeals Court. The U.S. Attorney informs me that a majority of the sitting judges must approve the motion for a rehearing to be granted. We expect a decision in approximately 60 days.
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On Tuesday, May 8, 2007, two more members of the Stapleton Crew, both of whom pleaded guilty to second degree murder charges within days of the killings of Andrews and Nemorin, were sentenced: Mitchell Diaz, age 22, and Jessie Jacobus, age 21, received 15 years to life for their roles in the detectives’ murders. Previously, Diaz confessed to providing the gun to Ronell Wilson, and Jacobus confessed to accompanying
On Friday, November 9, 2007, the last suspect in the homicides, Omar Green, was sentenced to 22 years to life in prison in Staten Island Supreme Court by Judge Leonard P. Rienzi. Green, a black market arms dealer, had pleaded guilty to second-degree murder charges. He had helped set up the detectives' deaths. Green signed a cooperation agreement shortly after the murders and urged his accomplices Jacobus and Diaz to come forward.
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The DEA and the families of James Nemorin and Rodney Jay Andrews thank the United States Attorneys Office of the Eastern District, all the members of the NYPD, and all those who expressed their concern and supported us during this four year ordeal.
For information on the March 10 Undercover Fund for the children of Detectives Nemorin and Andrews, please see the “Related Charities” section of this website.