Man gets life in prison for murder of Philadelphia police officer

PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- The man convicted of killing an off-duty Philadelphia police officer as he walked home following his shift has learned his fate.

25-year-old Rafael Jones of North Philadelphia will spend the rest of his life behind bars for the murder of Officer Moses Walker Jr.

The sentence has been passed down by Judge Jeffrey Minehart, who convicted Jones after a non-jury trial.

Jones shot and killed veteran police Officer Moses Walker Jr. in the early morning hours of August 18, 2012 during what began as a robbery attempt.

Officer Walker was in plain clothes walking to a North Philadelphia bus stop on Cecil B. Moore Avenue after finishing his work shift at the 22nd police district.

Jones and an accomplice tried to rob him and shot Officer Walker 3 times as he tried to pull out his service weapon.

The DA now says Jones is finally off the streets forever.

"He started his criminal history at the age of 12 committing a burglary and his life has been one long, unabated crime spree," said Assistant District Attorney Jude Conroy.

He added, "But as I said, the wheels of justice grind slow but they grind fine."

Officer Walker's mother delivered a powerful impact statement in court Wednesday morning.

"He's gonna do life in prison. I'm happy about that. I'm happy at least he won't be on the streets harming anybody else. So in a sense I believe justice was done," she said.

Jones' lawyer claims his client was not the trigger man but rather his accomplice, Chancier McFarland, who testified against Jones saying they targeted Officer Walker thinking he was an easy prey temple University student.

In exchange for his testimony against Jones, McFarland cut a deal with the prosecution to do 20 to 40 years in prison.

"The other guy, the Commonwealth witness, Chancier McFarland was the guy who brought the gun from his house, brought the gun into the car, and then after the shooting took the gun back home. Our argument was that it was the other guy who actually did the shooting," said Michael Coard, Jones' lawyer.

Rafael Jones showed no remorse as his sentence was formally passed Wednesday morning.

He's now on his way behind bars in a Pennsylvania penitentiary for the rest of his life with no opportunity for parole.