A day after a jury found Rahmael Sal Holt guilty of killing New Kensington police Officer Brian Shaw, the patrolman’s mother addressed her son’s murderer.
"I will never forgive you for what you did to him," Lisa Shaw said Wednesday while looking at Holt as she testified in a Greensburg courtroom during his sentencing hearing. "I'm still waking up from this nightmare."
Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty for Holt, 31.
The rookie officer’s older brother also addressed Holt from the stand.
"You are nothing but a coward," Steffan Shaw said. "You could have dropped the gun or surrendered, but you decided to turn around and kill my brother."
Holt's countenance remained neutral as he stared back at the slain officer’s mother and brother. With red faces and cracked voices they addressed the defendant.
The Shaws were the only two witnesses that prosecutors called to testify during the penalty phase of Holt’s trial.
Defense counsel called one of several anticipated witnesses — a woman who tutored Holt as a child in math and reading — before the proceedings ended for the day.
The prosecution cited a single aggravating factor for jurors to consider in determining whether Holt should be executed: the death of a law enforcement officer in the line of duty. Holt’s attorney, Tim Dawson, cited as a mitigating factor the claim that Holt “had a deprived childhood while lost on the streets of Homewood.”
Officer Shaw was killed November 17, 2017, after attempting to pull over a Jeep driven by Tavon Harper in New Kensington. Jurors determined that Holt, the passenger, jumped from the vehicle and shot Officer Shaw during a footchase through a dark, vacant lot.
Deliberations in Westmoreland County Common Pleas Court lasted for just over an hour Tuesday as a jury of nine women and three men found Holt guilty on four counts: first-degree murder of a law enforcement officer, first-degree murder and two firearms violations.
During the six-day capital murder trial, several family members of Officer Shaw’s and law enforcement officers packed the small courtroom. A few of Holt's relatives have also been in attendance each day.
Prosecutors on Wednesday urged jurors to "use their heads" in deciding whether Holt should be executed.
"We seek the death penalty only where a person deserves it," said Westmoreland County District Attorney John Peck. Some cases and defendants are worse than others, he said, but Holt "deserves" it.
Peck called Holt "ruthless," "intentional" and "cold-blooded."
James Robinson, an attorney for Holt, asked jurors to show mercy and told them that they are not "avenging angels" for Officer Shaw. He urged them to consider a sentence of life in prison without parole instead of death.
Holt endured a "traumatic childhood" that included witnessing gun violence at a young age, Mr. Robinson told jurors. While growing up, Holt had to care for his younger siblings while his mother worked.
The death penalty is reserved for the "lowest of the low," Mr. Robinson said. He told the jury that Holt had recently gotten a job at Eat’n Park.
Steffan Shaw said that he has waited one year, 11 months and 23 days for his brother to receive justice. His last words to his brother were on Nov. 17, 2017, telling him to enjoy his day at work, and "I love you," Steffan said.
He called it an "act of God" that Officer Shaw had a chance to be saved by police officers who responded the night he was shot.
On June 6, 2017, the Shaw brothers had both received news that they would officially become law enforcement officers — Steffan was to work at the Penn Hills Police Department, and his brother was headed to New Kensington.
It was a "special day" as both brothers got the "jobs of their dreams," Steffan Shaw said, adding that he considered Brian to be his best friend. Brian Shaw was to be the best man at his brother’s wedding.
Steffan Shaw testified that when he got the news of his brother’s death, Holt was sitting on his mother's couch with his girlfriend Vanessa Portis.
"You don't value human life," Steffan Shaw told Holt. "So therefore you don't deserve it ..."
He said he still remembers his mother's screams when he called to tell her the news.
Officer Shaw brought positivity and happiness to everyone he knew, Ms. Shaw said. He spent a lot of time with his father hunting and fishing, and she said that she loved watching him play soccer and other sports growing up.
She recalled, through tears, times when she would lie on her son’s bed.
"I could talk to him about anything," she said. "I'm sure he felt the same about me ... I would give anything to hear that laugh again."
On Nov. 10, 2017, a week before his death, Officer Shaw closed on a new home, Ms. Shaw said. "I was there when he was handed the keys," she said.
On the day before his death, Ms. Shaw testified, she, her son and his girlfriend went shopping for furniture for his new home — memories that would "never be forgotten," she said.
"We should never have to bury one of our kids," Ms. Shaw testified.
"I'm hurting, my emotions are like tidal waves," she said. "One moment I could be shopping, then the next I'm crying my eyes out. I miss my son so much, I can't even begin to describe the pain."
Jean Dexheimer, of Wilkinsburg, testified for the defense.
She said that she knew Holt from Wilkinsburg. Holt was always with his cousin and younger brother, and she dubbed them the “Three Musketeers.”
During cross-examination by Assistant District Attorney Jim Lazar, Ms. Dexheimer said she couldn't recall how Holt was affected by the death of his younger brother, which occurred when the boys were young. The trio would sometimes visit her home after school, and she would feed them. She said she eventually joined the school board and began volunteering at schools in the area.
The three did "what kids do," she said — nothing unusual, Ms. Dexheimer said. She was like a "distant grandmother" to the boys, she said.
Ms. Dexheimer recalled a time when Holt was in third grade and she gave him a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles book — one of his favorites at the time.
She said she later learned that Holt's uncle had taken the book and ripped it up, so Holt never got to enjoy it. This, Ms. Dexheimer said, was indicative of the environment Holt grew up in and the attitudes some adults might have had toward him as a child.
She said she "assumed it was inevitable" that Holt would be negatively affected by the streets. Holt was often tardy — she said that school wasn't heavily emphasized by his family — and he sometimes wore dirty clothes.
Ms. Dexheimer said there were drugs and shootings in the neighborhood where Holt grew up.
Holt's upbringing did not "seem to be good," Ms. Dexheimer testified.
Court resumes Thursday morning.
Lacretia Wimbley: lwimbley@post-gazette.com, 412-263-1510 or on Twitter @Wimbleyjourno.
First Published: November 13, 2019, 6:05 p.m.
Updated: November 13, 2019, 10:52 p.m.
