JIM FITZGERALD
Associated Press
MINEOLA, N.Y. (AP) — A judge imposed a double life sentence Friday — and suggested there might be more punishment after death — for a man who killed a policeman during a traffic stop and then killed a motorist while stealing a getaway car.
Daniel Fuller, 34, of Queens, had been convicted of first- and second-degree murder for a 2012 rampage near the Belmont Park racetrack that included the fatal shootings of Nassau County Officer Arthur Lopez and construction worker Raymond Facey.
“There is absolutely nothing redeemable about you,” county Judge Jerald Carter told Fuller after several of the victims’ relatives, some in tears, stood to extol their loved ones and denounce Fuller.
“Think of all the lives you have shattered,” said Abbigail Jones, Facey’s daughter.
The judge forced Fuller to look at photos of his victims, including one borrowed from Facey’s widow. He called Fuller “despicable you.” Then he imposed the sentences and said they would be “a prelude to the hell that may await you.”
Lopez’s sister, Charo Ramos, told Fuller, “I pray to God the devil takes his time with you.”
The courtroom’s gallery was packed. Many police officers attended in dark blue T-shirts that read, “In memory of Arthur Lopez. End of Watch Oct. 23, 2012.”
Fuller showed no emotion during the court session, didn’t look at the relatives who spoke and said only, “No, thank you,” when the judge asked if had anything to say before sentencing.
Antoinette Neil, who was on the jury that convicted Fuller in July, watched the sentencing from the gallery and said afterward, “I thought he would at least say, ‘I apologize.'” She said several jurors returned for the sentencing.
“We don’t have any regrets,” she said.
Officer Lopez, 29, of Babylon, saw a car driven by Fuller collide with a van on Oct. 23, 2012. Fuller, who had been convicted of attempted murder and was violating parole by carrying a loaded gun, drove off in his damaged vehicle.
After a pursuit and traffic stop, Fuller fired a handgun from 5 feet away, killing the officer.
He then spotted Raymond Facey, 58, of Brooklyn, who had stopped along the road and was making a cellphone call to one of his daughters. Fuller killed him with a shot to the head and stole his car, prosecutors said.
Later, he had a friend shoot him in the leg to make it appear he had been a victim.
June Facey, widow of the carjacking victim, came into the courthouse carrying a hardhat that she said her husband wore every day.
“He’ll never wear it again,” she said. “I never let it out of my sight.”
In court, she described the loss of her husband by saying, “Imagine the worst emotional pain you have experienced in your whole life and then multiply it by 10,000.” She said Raymond Facey’s death was “the waste of a brilliant mind and a beautiful soul.”
“I am lost,” she said. “I am lonely.”
Outside the courthouse later, June Facey said Fuller “got what he deserved. Well, he deserves more but that’s up to God.”
Officer James Carver, president of the Nassau County Police Benevolent Association, said eliminating parole for Fuller means the victims’ families won’t have to relive the shootings at parole hearings. But he noted earlier that Fuller’s imprisonment will be very expensive for New York taxpayers: During his trial, testimony was limited to three days a week because the defendant needed two days a week for kidney dialysis treatments.
“He’s going to be taken care of for the rest of his life while the Lopez and Facey families visit gravesites on holidays,” Carver said.
Copyright 2014 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
