Jury Finds Woman Accused Of Aiding Cousin Convicted In Officer's Fatal Shooting Guilty
GREENSBURG (KDKA) -- The woman accused of aiding her cousin in the fatal shooting of a New Kensington police officer has been found guilty on all counts.
Jurors returned to a Westmoreland County courtroom Thursday morning after deliberating into the night.
They were tasked with deciding if Lisa Harrington helped her cousin, Rahmael Sal Holt, avoided being arrested after the shooting death of New Kensington Police Officer Brian Shaw.
The judge sent the jury home around 10 p.m. Wednesday after deliberating for five hours.
Deliberations resumed around 9:30 a.m., and the jury returned the verdict just after 11:30 a.m.
Harrington testified on her own behalf Wednesday before the case was turned over to the jury, saying she wouldn't do anything that would jeopardize her life or the lives of her children.
Prosecutors claim a day after the 2017 shooting, Harrington threw away the gun allegedly used in the shooting death of Officer Shaw. To this day, that gun has not been found.
While testifying, Harrington denied any involvement in helping Holt, who she says is her first cousin, but considers him more like a brother.
Less than an hour after the shooting, investigators claim Harrington took Holt to his girlfriend's house in Natrona. He wasn't found until four days later in Hazelwood. It was the day after the shooting when police say Harrington allegedly grabbed a brown paper bag, with the gun inside, and threw it away.
"There's a lot of questions in this case and I think it's indicative of the reasonable doubt throughout this entire case," defense attorney Adam Gorzelsky said. "I guess I'm surprised in a way, because jurors don't like to stay that long, and I don't know what they're talking about, obviously, but I can't say that I'm disappointed that they're giving this some hard, long thought."
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The defense goes on to say Harrington wouldn't do something as stupid to have taken a murder weapon and throw it away, while the prosecution says Harrington is extremely loyal to her cousin.
Holt was sentenced to death in February.
