Family of Eddie Irizarry files wrongful-death lawsuit against former Philadelphia Police Officer Mark Dial

The family of Eddie Irizarry has sued the now-former Philadelphia police officer who shot and killed him during a traffic stop in Kensington last month, saying his use of lethal force was excessive, unjustified and illegal.

In a wrongful-death lawsuit filed Wednesday in Common Pleas Court, the family says Mark Dial acted “unlawfully” when he shot Irizarry multiple times at point-blank range as he sat in his car with the windows rolled up. The suit also names Dial’s partner, Michael Morris, who also was at the scene Aug. 14 but did not fire his gun.

The suit, filed by lawyer Shaka Johnson, says Irizarry, 27, was incapacitated after being shot just once, yet Dial continued to fire four more times through the driver’s side window of Irizarry’s gold Toyota Corolla and then fired a sixth shot through the windshield.

» READ MORE: Philly Black clergy and NAACP denounce dismissal of charges against former Officer Mark Dial in the shooting of Eddie Irizarry

The suit quotes Dial as saying he would shoot Irizarry before he fired the shots in rapid succession. The bullets came so quickly, the suit says, that Irizarry had no “opportunity whatsoever to comply with any law enforcement commands to either ‘drop the knife’ or to ‘show me your hands.’”

The lawsuit also says that the officers “did not have the appropriate, necessary or ordered training regarding the use of deadly force.” Both were equipped with Tasers as a result of a settlement with the city following the police killing of Walter Wallace Jr. in 2020, but that Dial “immediately exited his vehicle and pulled his gun out despite the fact that Irizarry presented no threat to anyone while locked inside his car,” the complaint said.

The Philadelphia Police Department and City Law Department declined to comment, citing pending litigation.

Dial’s lawyers, Brian McMonagle and Fortunato Perri Jr., did not immediately return a request for comment Thursday.

Earlier this week, McMonagle called the shooting “a tragedy and not a crime,” telling a judge Dial thought his partner yelled that Irizarry had a “gun,” and that Dial fired in self-defense. Morris testified this week that he didn’t remember the exact words he used, but said he saw Irizarry grab a knife and appear to move it upward, and tried to convey that to Dial. Dial, a five-year veteran of the force, was fired Sept. 18 after then-Police Commissioner Danielle Outlaw suspended him with intent to dismiss when he refused to cooperate with an internal investigation.

The lawsuit alleges that after the shooting, as Irizarry was rushed to Temple University Hospital, where he died a short time later, police attempted to cover up what happened.

A body-worn camera shows Dial signaling to other officers that his camera is “still running.” The lawsuit alleges that Dial’s “silence is overwhelming and the obvious beginning of a conspiracy of silence and outright falsehoods in order to cover up the unlawful shooting of an innocent Philadelphian who had never been in trouble with the law in his life.”

The complaint says Morris, who stood outside the police cruiser while his partner opened fire on Irizarry, is shown on body camera footage cautioning his supervisors that his camera is on, while telling the others that he did not discharge his weapon.

In an initial statement to the media, police said Irizarry stepped out of his car with a knife, lunging at officers as they gave multiple commands for him to drop the weapon. The following day, the department provided a significantly different account of what happened, and surveillance video released by Johnson showed Dial shooting into Irizarry’s rolled-up window.

» READ MORE: New video shows Philadelphia Police officer shot Eddie Irizarry within seconds of getting out of patrol car

“Simply put, the Philadelphia Police Department, including the defendant police officers, thought that they could unlawfully kill a Philadelphia citizen, and cover it up,” the lawsuit said.

The suit was filed a day after a Philadelphia judge dismissed all charges against Dial, including first-degree murder, ruling that prosecutors had not provided enough evidence to show that the fatal shooting was a crime. Irizarry’s grief-stricken family decried the decision, and about 100 people rallied outside City Hall Tuesday evening in protest.

A night of unrest followed the peaceful gathering for Irizarry, as groups of young people vandalized and stole from businesses across the city. Interim Police Commissioner John Stanford said Tuesday night that those who looted were “criminal opportunists” not affiliated with the earlier protest, and were taking “advantage of a situation.”

The District Attorney’s Office has appealed the judge’s decision in an attempt to refile all charges against Dial.

Irizarry’s aunt Zoraida Garcia said Thursday that the lawsuit is another means of seeking justice for her nephew, a mechanic remembered for his love of cars, music, and family.

“The justice that we were looking for pretty much failed us,” she said of the dismissed criminal case. “The same way we’re suffering, he has to feel that pain, someway, somehow.

“At this point, the money is not going to bring my nephew back. But they need to feel the pain my family is feeling. So we’re going to keep fighting, and we’re going to keep doing what we have to do.”