Man gets 60 years in prison for murdering off-duty Newark cop in 2011

NEWARK, N.J. (WABC) -- The man convicted of killing an off-duty Newark police officer in 2011 was sentenced to 60 years in prison Friday.

Rasul McNeil-Thomas, who was 20 at the time, fatally shot Newark officer Willie Johnson inside a restaurant.

"Today Officer Johnson's family got justice," assistant prosecutor Romesh Sukhdeo said. "The sentence imposed by Judge (Robert) Gardner is appropriate for someone who opened fire on a crowded restaurant, killing one person and wounding two others. This defendant displayed an absolute disregard for human life."

Johnson was not the intended target of McNeil-Thomas' rampage at Texas Fried Chicken that May, but the 16-year veteran was struck by a bullet and killed. He was standing at the counter of the fast-food restaurant waiting for an order to go on his way to a second job as a security guard.

The slain officer, who was 45, was a father of two daughters who grew up in Newark and worked in the police department's video surveillance unit.

"Officer Johnson embodied the best of the best," assistant prosecutor Magdalen Czykier said. "He was a longstanding member of the police department. He lived in the community and cared about the community. He knew the people in his neighborhood and they knew him."

Besides Johnson, two other people were struck in the drive-by shooting. A 21-year-old man was hospitalized with a wound to the stomach, and a 19-year-old at the restaurant with her toddler was struck in the shoulder, treated and released.

Following a four-week trial, McNeil-Thomas was also found guilty of the attempted murder of Marissa Tarry and Ashley Lamar, both of Newark. Lamar was one of those shot during the drive-by shooting. Tarry was the intended target but was not shot. She saw Thomas approaching and ran for cover.

McNeil-Thomas was also found guilty of carjacking and conspiracy to commit a carjacking. The vehicle used in the drive-by shooting was carjacked from the driveway of a nearby house. The occupant of the car was sitting in the passenger seat of the idling vehicle when she was ordered out of the car by Thomas and an unidentified co-conspirator. She was not physically harmed.

McNeil-Thomas was acquitted of the more serious offense of murder. He was also found not guilty of endangering the welfare of a child, a charge stemming from the fact that there was a baby in a baby carriage at the time he opened fire on the restaurant.

The jury found McNeil-Thomas guilty of the following charges:

--Conspiracy to commit carjacking

--Carjacking

--Conspiracy to commit murder

--Aggravated Manslaughter

--Two counts of unlawful possession of a handgun

--Possession of a firearm with a purpose to use it unlawfully against a person or property

--Two counts of attempted murder

--Two counts of aggravated assault

--Reckless aggravated assault

Thomas must serve 85 percent of his sentence before he is eligible for parole under New Jersey's No Early Release Act.