PPD officer Mark Dial, who killed Eddie Irizarry, sent to jail after his bail was revoked
Mark Dial, who is charged with fatally shooting Eddie Irizarry, is to be in jail until his next hearing.
A Philadelphia judge on Tuesday revoked bail for Philadelphia Police Officer Mark Dial, who is accused of murder in the fatal shooting of Eddie Irizarry, sending him to jail until his next hearing.
Prosecutors argued last week that a bail magistrate’s decision to grant Dial bail when he was charged with first-degree murder was inconsistent with the Pennsylvania Constitution. That point held as the basis of their argument before Common Pleas Court Judge Lillian Ransom on Tuesday afternoon.
“This is a narrow and strictly legal issue,” said Assistant District Attorney Lyandra Retacco. “We’re looking for consistency.”
Typically, defendants charged with first-degree murder are held in jail without bail — something that prosecutors and legal experts say has been in line with a traditional reading of the Pennsylvania Constitution for years.
But in an unusual move, when Dial was charged on Sept. 8, Municipal Court Judge Christian DiCicco set Dial’s bail at $500,000. Almost immediately, the police union posted the necessary $50,000 — 10% of the total bail — and Dial was released.
Dial’s lawyers argued Tuesday — as they did at his initial bail hearing — that Dial was being overcharged. Lawyer Brian McMonagle pointed to the fact that when police submitted an initial affidavit of probable cause for Dial’s arrest, they recommended that he face a lead offense of voluntary manslaughter — not first-degree murder.
“This has never been a case of first-degree murder,” McMonagle said.
He emphasized a state Supreme Court case from 2021 that established limited circumstances under which murder defendants could argue for bail, and said that prosecutors had not met the burden of proof required to support the charges and justify denial of bail.
Retacco, chief of the Special Investigations Unit of the District Attorney’s Office, said that should be reserved for the preliminary hearing, where a judge will decide whether there’s enough evidence to proceed with the case and current charges. She asked for “even-handed justice,” and said Dial should be treated until then the same as any defendant charged with murder.
Ransom ultimately agreed with prosecutors and ordered bail to be revoked. She did not explain her decision, saying only that she appreciated both lawyers’ arguments and that the issue can be revisited at Dial’s preliminary hearing next Tuesday.
Dial, 27, was charged earlier this month with first-degree murder, aggravated assault, and related crimes after he shot Irizarry at near point-blank range on Aug. 14. Irizarry had been seated in his car in Kensington when officers approached and saw he was holding a knife. Within seconds, Dial fired.
Philadelphia Police Commissioner Danielle Outlaw said last month that Dial would be fired following a 30-day suspension.
Irizarry’s family pushed for Dial to face charges for weeks, and was upset that he had been released on bail.
“What makes him exempt to follow the rules and laws like everyone else? His badge?” Irizarry’s aunt, Ana Cintron, said outside the courthouse Tuesday. “Today, justice was made — for now — and he is behind bars, and we are thankful and happy that people actually listened to us.”
The gallery of the courtroom was filled with Irizarry’s family, seated alongside Dial’s loved ones and supporters from the Fraternal Order of Police Lodge No. 5.
» READ MORE: Eddie Irizarry’s family say they knew from the start that police lied. Now, they want accountability.
The crowd was mostly quiet, save for a few whispered comments, such as when McMonagle told the judge that Dial “was not a danger to society.”
“And neither was my nephew,” Zoraida Garcia said under her breath.
After Ransom announced her decision, Irizarry’s family breathed a sigh of relief. Garcia closed her eyes and leaned back, her cheeks wet with tears.
Dial said nothing throughout the hearing. After Ransom instructed him to give his lawyers any personal items, he calmly stood up. He turned around, pursed his lips, and waved to his family. Then he followed the sheriff’s deputies through the side doors of the courtroom, where he would be taken through the bowels of the courthouse and transported to jail.