DA Larry Krasner to appeal overturned murder conviction in 2012 killing of Philly cop Moses Walker Jr.

District Attorney Larry Krasner on Tuesday said he strongly disagreed with a judge’s decision to overturn the murder conviction of a man who killed Philadelphia Police Officer Moses Walker Jr. in 2012 and vowed to appeal.

Krasner said Common Pleas Court Judge Jennifer Schultz, who handed down the ruling Monday, was “legally incorrect” in vacating the conviction of Rafael Jones, who is serving life in prison for killing the officer during a street robbery at the end of his shift.

In deciding that Jones deserved a new trial, Schultz cited the case’s connection to disgraced ex-homicide detective Philip Nordo, who was convicted in 2022 of sexually abusing witnesses and suspects for more than a decade.

But Krasner, speaking at a news conference alongside Walker’s mother and FOP President Roosevelt Poplar, said Jones’ conviction was different from others involving Nordo that have since been reevaluated.

“We believe now that Rafael Jones is guilty — that he murdered Moses Walker Jr.,” Krasner said.

If the appellate court denies the district attorney’s appeal, he added, “We will be retrying this case. We have a lot of evidence to do so. And we will be retrying it vigorously.”

Walker, 40, was shot and killed shortly before dawn on August 18, 2012.

The officer had just left the 22nd District station in North Philadelphia dressed in civilian clothes when Jones and another man, Chancier McFarland, targeted him in a robbery, prosecutors said.

Jones fired at Walker after the officer reached for his gun, according to prosecutors. Both men were arrested, and McFarland pleaded guilty and testified against Jones as part of a deal to avoid life in prison.

Years later, during Nordo’s sexual abuse trial in 2022, one of his accusers testified that the detective steered him toward a $20,000 reward and later raped him.

Though Krasner acknowledged the “messy history” that came with Nordo’s involvement in Jones’ case, he said the district attorney’s office was confident in the conviction.

There were multiple pieces of evidence that pointed to Jones’ guilt, he said, including a murder confession that was not introduced at trial because Jones did not testify, and McFarlane’s eyewitness account of the crime.

“We concluded years ago that this conviction was in the category that should not be disturbed,” Krasner said.

The district attorney’s office will appeal Schultz’s ruling to Superior Court, a process Krasner said could take up to two years.

Poplar, president of Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 5, said he had faith that Krasner’s office would prevail.

“Yesterday was a tough day,” he said, echoing comments made by Police Commissioner Kevin Bethel, who said he was disappointed by the ruling.

Walker’s mother, Wayne, said she and her family “would not allow these latest developments to weaken us.”

“We remain confident justice will prevail,” she said, adding that she hoped that the death of her son, not the vacated conviction of his killer, would “remain at the center of this case.”

“No decision rendered can alter what happened on August 18, 2012,” she said.