PHOENIX — A Maricopa County jury found Essa Williams guilty on all counts in the 2021 shooting of Phoenix police Officer Tyler Moldovan, who was struck by bullets eight times.
Williams was convicted of attempted murder and two counts of aggravated assault Aug. 13.
Moldovan had served as a Phoenix officer for about nine months when he encountered Williams near 19th Avenue and Camelback Road, while police were searching the area after reports of cars doing doughnuts.
Body-camera video played for jurors showed Moldovan approaching Williams on an apartment patio, asking about weapons and telling him to show his hands. Williams stood, pulled a handgun from near his pants and opened fire.
Prosecutors said Williams fired 15 rounds. Moldovan was hit from his head to his shins, including by a bullet that struck his brain stem.
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He spent months in the hospital and later testified that the shooting left him with memory loss and difficulty moving and speaking. He testified that his earliest memory after being shot on Dec. 14, 2021, was waking up in the hospital in March 2022.
Williams' defense did not dispute that he fired the shots. Attorney Dave Erlichman instead argued Williams acted in self-defense and questioned whether Williams knew Moldovan was a police officer during the early morning encounter.
The jury is scheduled to return Aug. 25 for an aggravation phase that will determine if Williams should face a more lengthy sentence than is typical for the crimes he was convicted of.Â
