Closing arguments held in trial of NYPD sergeant accused of killing man with cooler

A judge will soon determine whether a New York police sergeant accused of killing a man with a cooler is guilty.

Closing arguments in the trial of Sgt. Erik Duran were heard Tuesday. Duran is facing manslaughter charges in the death of 30-year-old Eric Duprey. 

Prosecutors say police were trying to arrest Duprey for a drug deal in August 2023 in the Bronx when he took off on a motorcycle. Video shows Duran, 38, throwing a picnic cooler at Duprey's head, trying to get him to stop. 

Duprey swerved and slid under a vehicle. He died from blunt force trauma to the head. 

It is a bench trial, meaning there's no jury and a judge will decide the verdict. The judge said he will render a decision on Friday afternoon. 

Defense lawyers argue Duran was trying to stop a threat

In opening statements, Duran's lawyers said the undercover narcotics sergeant didn't know if the cooler was full or not. They told the judge Duprey clipped a tree, fell and died.

"His thought was stop the threat," they argued. "My client used force to protect lives."

They said Duprey died because of a "series of bad choices," by selling drugs, driving an illegal motorbike and driving on the sidewalk. The defense said if Duran didn't stop Duprey, other people would've been killed because of the reckless driving.

Attorneys argued Duprey "chose to drive directly at the police. He wasn't trying to get away. He was ambushing them."

Duran took the stand in his own defense on Monday, telling the judge, "He was gonna crash into us" and "All I had time for was to try again to stop or to try to get him to change directions. That's all I had the time to think of."  

Prosecutors say Duran used deadly force and "chose violence"

In their closing argument Tuesday, prosecutors challenged Duran's assertion, telling the judge it would have been more reasonable to yell "look out" or "watch out."

They also questioned how Duran had time to take two steps to pick up a cooler full of ice and drinks and throw it, arguing, "This defendant's actions were reckless, unreasonable, unnecessary. They were criminal."

Prosecutors said Duran was trying to "save an arrest," not lives, because Duprey wasn't an imminent threat.

Duprey's mother also testified during the trial to confirm it was her son who died. She told reporters in Spanish that she misses her son and wants justice. 

The organization Black Lives Matter Greater New York held a news conference outside the courthouse in support of Duprey. Co-founder Chivona Newsome slammed the defense and called the incident a "cold-blooded execution."

"They want the world to believe that hurling a 40-pound projectile at a human being is a 'tactical decision.' We call it what it is: state-sanctioned murder," she said.

Duran pleaded not guilty to charges of second-degree manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide. He could face up to 25 years in prison if found guilty.