Phoenix, Arizona: Essa Williams Gets Life Sentence for Shooting Officer Tyler Moldovan

A judge in Maricopa County Superior Court in Phoenix, Arizona sentenced Essa Williams to life in prison on Tuesday, October 27, with the possibility of release after 50 years, for the 2021 shooting of Phoenix police Officer Tyler Moldovan. Williams was convicted on August 13 of attempted murder and two counts of aggravated assault, and the sentencing in downtown Phoenix closes the court case over one of the most closely watched police shootings in the city in recent years.

The shooting in December 2021

Moldovan had served as a Phoenix officer for about nine months and was 22 years old when he encountered Williams near 19th Avenue and Camelback Road on December 14, 2021. Moldovan and his partner, Officer Zach Johnson, had responded to reports of cars doing doughnuts, and the two officers were searching a nearby apartment complex when the encounter happened. 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 struck eight times, with wounds from his head to his shins, including a bullet that struck his brain stem.

Trial and testimony

The trial began on July 15, and Moldovan took the stand. He testified that the shooting left him with memory loss and difficulty moving and speaking, and that his earliest memory after December 14, 2021 was waking up in a hospital in March 2022, after months of treatment that included time at Craig Hospital in Denver, Colorado. Williams' defense did not dispute that he fired the shots. His attorney, Dave Erlichman, argued that Williams acted in self-defense and questioned whether Williams knew Moldovan was a police officer during the early morning encounter. The jury rejected that account and found Williams guilty on all counts on August 13. After the verdict, the Phoenix Law Enforcement Association said the result held Williams fully accountable for a deliberate attack on an officer who was at work protecting the community.

A recovery Phoenix has followed

Moldovan survived injuries that doctors and fellow officers described at the time as life threatening, and his recovery has been followed across Phoenix since 2021. He has made a small number of public appearances in the years since the shooting, including throwing out the ceremonial first pitch at the Arizona Diamondbacks home opener in 2023 and appearing again during the World Series at Chase Field later that year. Prosecutors had said before Tuesday's hearing, which was set for 1:30 p.m., that Williams could face decades in prison. The life sentence, with release possible only after 50 years, is the final court outcome in the case, and no further trial dates were reported.