PHILADELPHIA — Former Philadelphia Police Officer Mark Dial on Thursday was sentenced to 9 1/2 months to two years in prison for shooting and killing Eddie Irizarry in Kensington in 2023, allowing Dial to remain at home and not spend any additional time behind bars.

The sentence pronounced by Common Pleas Court Judge Glenn B. Bronson fell years below the state guidelines for a conviction for voluntary manslaughter, and authorized Dial, 29, to be immediately paroled because he had already spent about 10 months in jail.

The sentence drew immediate condemnation from Irizarry’s family and District Attorney Larry Krasner, who said the outcome was unjust.

“I am deeply disappointed with a verdict that I think makes people lose faith in the criminal justice system,” Krasner said.

As the judge announced his decision, Irizarry’s family stood up in frustration and left the courtroom before the hearing was complete.

“Unbelievable,” said Irizarry’s aunt, Ana Cintron.

Dial and his loved ones, meanwhile, erupted in sobs of relief that the judge had heard their pleas not to send the former officer back to prison.

In May, Dial was convicted of voluntary manslaughter, recklessly endangering another person, and possession of an instrument of crime after a jury found that he acted unreasonably and criminally when he shot Irizarry six times within seconds of encountering him in his car.

Dial was acquitted of the more serious charge of third-degree murder.

State sentencing guidelines called for Dial to be sentenced to a minimum of 3½ to seven years in prison. Assistant District Attorney Karima Yelverton asked that he spend five to 10 years behind bars, in part, to “send an explicit message” that there are consequences for killing someone.

But the decision fell to Bronson, who opted to depart from guidelines, saying the shooting was not “a classic voluntary manslaughter case.”

While the judge said Dial’s actions caused a “profound impact” on Irizarry’s family and community, the officer’s conduct was “demonstrably out of character” and that Dial was not a threat to the public.

He pointed to the facts of the case — that Dial said he heard his partner yell “Gun!” That Irizarry was holding a seven-inch folding knife with a black handle that resembled a firearm. That the officer, after shooting Irizarry six times, rushed his bleeding, lifeless body to the hospital to try and save his life.

“I’ve never seen that happen in a voluntary manslaughter case,” he said of the officer’s efforts.

At a news conference after the hearing, Krasner decried Bronson’s sentence as an example of a criminal justice system that he said operated like a “caste system,” where people of certain races or social classes are treated differently.

“There is nothing new about white people being treated better than Black and brown people, and there is nothing new, sadly, about the status of a defendant — whether that status involves wearing a uniform or not, nothing new about that being unequal,“ he said. ”Everything I just said has always been wrong, and it is wrong today.”

He said he respects Bronson, whom he described as a hardworking judge, but said he was disheartened by the decision — one that he said strayed away from what attorneys have come to expect from the judge.

“Especially in light of the indisputable, long pattern of this judge leaning toward lengthy sentences, this one really stands out,” Krasner said.

The sentence brings to a close a case that sparked outrage among the public and spurred protests in the streets, as Irizarry’s family and community members questioned why Dial so quickly resorted to using deadly force.

Dial and his partner, Michael Morris, had been on patrol in North Philadelphia when they saw Irizarry speed past them and weave in and out of lanes on the afternoon of Aug. 14, 2023. They followed Irizarry for a few blocks, but did not turn on their lights or siren to initiate a car stop.

Irizarry, 27, eventually parked on a residential block. Morris, who was driving the police cruiser, then pulled up next to him.

Dial immediately jumped out of the passenger side of the cruiser, drew his gun, and told Irizarry to show him his hands. He ran toward Irizarry’s car and, within seconds, fired six shots through the driver’s side door and windshield of Irizarry’s car, striking him multiple times.

Irizarry was holding a seven-inch folding knife.

Dial took the stand during the trial and said he heard his partner yell “Gun!” as he approached Irizarry’s car. Then, he said, he saw Irizarry holding something black and shiny, and thought it was a firearm. Fearing for his life, he said, he opened fire.

But prosecutors said Irizarry, who was seated in the driver’s seat with the windows rolled up, was not a threat. They said Morris had actually yelled “Knife!” and that Dial acted irrationally in response.

In court Thursday, Dial, his family, and his attorneys asked Bronson to show mercy to the former officer, who they say had already suffered profoundly from the 10 months he had spent in jail — and the guilt and trauma of taking a life.

“That’s a good man, and he doesn’t deserve to go back to prison,” attorney Brian McMonagle said of Dial. “His fear was real.”

Dial addressed the judge briefly, crying so hard that, at times, his words were unclear.

“Every day I wish the outcome had been different,” he said. “I truly believed my life — and Mike’s life — was in danger.”

Dial said he will carry the trauma of that day with him forever, and that in the future, he hopes to help other people process their pain and trauma, too.

“I don’t want to be defined by this moment,” he said.

Irizarry’s family appeared unmoved. Cintron, said Dial had no remorse for killing her nephew and said he was crying “crocodile tears.”

Outside the courthouse, the family’s pain turned to fury.

“We didn’t fail him. The system failed,” she said. “We fought hard. The system failed.”

She said the family wanted to see Dial spend some additional time in jail, however brief.

“Now you’re telling everybody ... ‘the cops gonna walk off.’ Because right now he’s walking out with his family, and we need to go to a cemetery,” said Irizarry’s aunt, Zoraida Garcia.

Cintron said that even on Thursday, Dial did not apologize to her family.

“Not once did he say he was sorry,” she said. “Nothing at all.”

Irizarry’s family has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the city, police department, and Dial.

Dial’s conviction, a felony, prohibits him from ever again owning a gun and becoming a police officer.

Krasner stopped short of saying he believed Dial was a threat to the public, but said he was happy the former officer would never be allowed to own a firearm again.

Dial’s attorney, Brian McMonagle, said they were elated with the sentence, and that Dial is “a good and decent human being” who “truly got justice.”

He did not rule out the possibility that they would still appeal the conviction.

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