Karla Nino

05/02/14

Officer down
Detective Rodney J. Andrews and Detective James Verneuil Nemorin where working in a
undercover operation the day of 3-10-03. The undercover operation was a gun buy-and-bust
operation at St. Pauls Avenue and Hannah Street in the Tompkinsville section of Staten Island.
Omar Green with 19 years of age had already sold a .357 Magnum to one of the detectives a few
days earlier. The same detective who had bought the gun had made arrangement to meet up
again that same week and buy a Tech-9 submachine gun. Things had change, this time it wasnt
just one detective. Both detectives showed up in the place arranged with $1,200 cash. Omar
wasnt very happy with the fact that there were two of them instead of the expected one. The
detective that was involved with the first gun sale tried to play it of by saying he was his brother
in law, and that he had brought him to make himself feel safer. Omar however didnt believed
them, he then order them to drive Jessie Jacobus 17-years of age and Ronell Willson 20-years of
age to drive to a different location where they would do the buy. Unfortunately Omar didnt want
to go through with the sale anymore; instead he was going to rob them.
During the drive the detectives thought they still had control and well knowledge of the
case. They saw that one of the four surveillance car had been spotted, at this point the detectives
told them to back up through a hidden audio hook-up. Around the same time the teenagers told
the detectives to pullover so they could pick up the Tech-9. One of the surveillance cars was
passing by when one of the teens where walking out of the detectives vehicle. The surveillance
cars also lost sight of the detectives when the car started to move again, but they could still hear
over the audio hook-up. They heard that both Jessie and Ronell where demanding to search
Karla Nino
05/02/14

detective Andrews and detective Nemorin. An argument began when the detectives questioned
why they wanted to search them. the suspects then order the detectives to pull over, and one of
them drew a .44-caliber handgun. He then shot Detective Andrews, once in the back of the head,
he was setting in the passenger side. They also killed Detective Nemorin, who was the driver,
once in the head as well. This all happen within minutes the back-up team lost contact briefly
because of the technical limitations of their Kel monitoring devices. It didnt take long for the
officers from the surveillance vehicles located the detective bodys lying in the middle of the
intersection of Hannah Street and Saint Pauls Avenue. They were rushed to ST. Vincents
hospital, where they were pronounced dead.
The teens then got out of the vehicle and walked away, came back to pulled the
detectives out of the car so they could take the car, the money and Detective Nemorins gun. The
suspects then headed to Mr. Greens mothers apartment where Mr. Bullock saw some of the
suspects leave bloody clothes and a gun belonging to one of the officers. Mr. Diaz provided the
gun used for the killings, a .44-caliber revolver found Thursday in an apartment near the scene,
Van Duzer Street. Once they arrived at the apartment and walked out of the car two patrols saw
them. The officer where able to catch one of the suspects but the other one fired shots at the
officers and escaped.
Ronell Wilson, 20,was responsible for the deaths of both Detectives. Mr. Wilson was
arrested and charged for first degree murder. His trial ended December 20, 2006, the jury
brought back a guilty verdict on all ten counts. Ronell Wilson was the type of person who sat
through three years of his own trial emotionless, remorseless and even declared to witnesses that
he didnt give a f--- about anyone. On Tuesday, January 30
th
, 2007 the jury sentenced Ronell
Wilson to death. All of the sudden Mr. Wilson was now trying to get another trial which he was
Karla Nino
05/02/14

denied from. On March 29, 2007 was the marking for the first time in 50 years that a death
sentence was netted out in New York State for a law enforcement officer. Judge Nicholas
Garaufis directly handed down the death sentence. It didnt take long for the courts to state that
the death penalty was unconstitutional therefore letting Mr. Wilson live.
On May 8, 2007, two more members of the Stapleton crew, Mitchell Diaz, age 22, and
Jessie Jacobus, age 21, received 15 years to life. Diaz confessed that he provided the gun to
Ronell Wilson, and Jacobus confessed to be present for the met with the detectives and to have
robbed them. On Friday, November 9, 2007, Omar Green, the last suspect in the homicides, was
sentenced to 22 years to life in prison. They all played guilty to second-degree murder. There
was a total of seven suspect that where involved in the crime. Within 48 the main suspects were
in custody. Five suspects were cached with in seventy two hours.