State Supreme Court rejects appeal for man sentenced to die for 2017 fatal shooting of New Kensington cop

The state Supreme Court on Thursday unanimously upheld the death sentence for a man convicted of fatally shooting New Kensington police Officer Brian Shaw in 2017.

A Westmoreland County jury deliberated for less than 90 minutes on Nov. 12, 2019, to find Rahmael Holt, 33, of Harrison, guilty on all counts of killing Shaw after an attempted traffic stop.

Two days later, the same jury sentenced Holt to death.

The six high court judges who heard the appeal filed in October seeking to overturn the conviction agreed with the jury that Holt should be executed by lethal injection.

Justice David Wecht did not participate in the review of the case.

Following his sentencing in November 2019, Holt filed a motion in court arguing that his conviction for first-degree murder “was against the weight of the evidence.”

The motion, which was denied, argued, among other things, that prosecutors failed to prove Holt acted with “malice and a specific intent to kill,” which are necessary for a first-degree murder conviction.

After the motion was denied, a formal appeal was filed raising nine issues that Holt’s lawyers said should warrant the decision be overturned, including:

• A lack of evidence

• The death penalty sentence was a product of “passion, prejudice and arbitrariness”

• Information about his prior gun possession introduced at trial violated state evidence rules

• Testimony from one witness was hearsay and other witnesses were coerced into testifying

• The death penalty is unconstitutional

In addition to questioning the validity of prosecution witnesses, Holt’s appeal argued there were no eyewitnesses to the shooting or video identifying Holt as the killer, and no murder weapon was recovered.

His lawyers also argued Holt did not confess and there was no DNA or other scientific evidence linking him to the murder.

The appeal contended Holt’s trial was tainted because it involved a “highly publicized and emotionally charged case involving a victim that was a young, popular local white police officer,” while Holt was “a young African American male with a Muslim-sounding name.”

The court denied that appeal and ruled Holt’s argument was unsupported by evidence, noting he “fully participated in jury selection” and did not make any claims of “partiality or prejudice by any juror” at the time.

The ruling prompted an automatic review of the case by the state Supreme Court in October, which resulted in Thursday’s ruling upholding Holt’s conviction.

Westmoreland County District Attorney Nicole Ziccarelli on Thursday issued a statement asking the governor to “honor the jury’s verdict.”

“The Pennsylvania Supreme Court directed that the complete record (of the Holt case) be transmitted to the governor, who we implore to honor the jury’s verdict,” Ziccarelli wrote.

“The Shaw family deserves that justice be served in accordance with the jury’s verdict, affirmed by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, and now in the hands of Gov. Wolf. May the Shaw family find strength in the heroism of Brian’s ultimate sacrifice and may his legacy endure,” the DA wrote.

Prosecutors accused Holt of killing Shaw while the officer was chasing him on foot after the SUV Holt was riding in was pulled over on Leishman Avenue.

Investigators said Shaw was hit by three of the six shots Holt fired from close range. They said Shaw never had a chance to fire back — the magazine in his gun was fully loaded and one round was in the chamber when it was recovered.

Shaw was 25 years old and worked for the police department for less than six months when he was killed. He was a Burrell High School graduate and earned a degree in criminal justice from Slippery Rock University.