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NEW YORK (AP) — The Latest on the trial of a New York City teenager who prosecutors say started a mattress fire that killed a police officer and injured his partner (all times local):
7:45 p.m.
The president of New York City's rank-and-file police union says the conviction of a teenager who set a mattress fire that killed a police officer and injured his partner was a "just verdict."
Patrolmen's Benevolent Association President Patrick Lynch said Thursday that jurors made a difficult, but just decision when they found Marcell Dockery guilty of murder, arson and assault charges.
Prosecutors say Dockery set fire to a mattress in a Brooklyn apartment building in April 2014.
New York Police Department officers Dennis Guerra (GEHR'-uh) and Rosa Rodriguez were trapped in the fire and overcome by smoke.
Guerra died three days later. Rodriguez spent six weeks in a hospital.
Dockery's attorney has said his client didn't set the fire and was trying to save other residents.
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6 p.m.
A teenager who prosecutors say set a mattress fire that killed a New York City police officer and injured another officer has been found guilty of murder.
Eighteen-year-old Marcell Dockery also was convicted of arson and assault charges Thursday after a trial at Brooklyn Supreme Court.
New York Police Department officers Dennis Guerra (GEHR'-uh) and Rosa Rodriguez were trapped in the April 6, 2014 fire and overcome by smoke in the Brooklyn apartment building.
Guerra died three days later. Rodriguez spent six weeks in a hospital.
Dockery testified in his own defense, and said he discovered the fire and tried to save other residents.
In a note announcing the verdict, jurors wrote to the judge that Dockery "didn't mean to harm anyone" and that they "hope leniency can be shown."
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