Ex-Philadelphia Officer Mark Dial Gets Parole After 9-Month Manslaughter Term

Former Philadelphia police officer Mark Dial was sentenced on Thursday to nine and a half months to two years in jail for the 2023 fatal shooting of Eddie Irizarry, but was immediately paroled because he has already served about 10 months in custody. Common Pleas Court Judge Glenn B. Bronson issued the decision, which is well below Pennsylvania’s sentencing guidelines for voluntary manslaughter. Dial, 29, was convicted in May of voluntary manslaughter, possessing an instrument of crime and recklessly endangering another person, but was acquitted of third-degree murder. Prosecutors had pressed for a five-to-ten-year term, arguing the sentence should signal consequences for unjustified use of deadly force, while the defense said Dial had already suffered from jail time and the trauma of the shooting. The case stems from an Aug. 14, 2023 traffic stop in Kensington in which Dial fired six shots through Irizarry’s closed car window within seconds of approaching the vehicle, mistakenly believing the 27-year-old driver held a gun. Body-camera footage later contradicted initial police statements that Irizarry had lunged at officers. The episode prompted protests and scrutiny of the Philadelphia Police Department’s handling of officer-involved shootings.