Florida police officer found guilty in 2015 shooting of motorist
By
Matthew Taylor
8 March 2019
A Palm Beach Gardens, Florida police officer was convicted in court on Thursday on charges of manslaughter and attempted murder. The officer, Nouman Raja, faces a possible life sentence.
The charges stem from an encounter Raja had in October of 2015 with Corey Jones, a housing inspector and musician, who was returning from a late night performance at an area nightclub when his vehicle broke down and he was stranded on an off-ramp of Interstate 95.
According to prosecutors, Raja drove his unmarked vehicle up the off-ramp and parked a few feet from Jones, who was in his truck on the phone with a towing company. When Raja, who was in plain clothes at the time, approached his vehicle he did not identify himself as a police officer.
Jones remained on his phone with the towing company during the encounter and the recording of the call documents what followed.
Approaching Jones, Raja asked “You good?” to which Jones, who had now exited the vehicle, replied in the affirmative. Twice Raja is heard saying “really?” to which Jones replied “yeah.”
Suddenly, Raja is heard commanding Jones to raise his hands. Jones, likely fearing he was being robbed, shouts “hold on.”
It was then that Jones, who had a concealed weapons permit, grabbed his gun and took off running down the nearby embankment. Raja fired three shots as Jones fled, and then ten seconds later fired another three shots, shooting Jones through his heart, killing him.
Jones’ gun was found 125 feet away from his body, indicating that he had thrown the weapon away as he fled. In the course of the trial, a medical examiner testified that Jones’ body would have fallen near where the lethal shot hit him. Plainclothes…