DA wraps up part of its case against Vickers

Jennifer Lewke News10NBC

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ROCHESTER, N.Y. — The trial of Kelvin Vickers has wrapped up for the day Thursday. He’s accused of murdering three men, including Rochester Police Officer Tony Mazurkewicz.

Prosecutors say Vickers was a gang member brought in from Boston to retaliate against rival drug dealers. He’s alleged to have killed Myjel Rand and Ricky Collinge in an ambush shooting on North Clinton Avenue on July 20, 2022.

A day later, investigators say he killed officer Mazurkewicz who was working a plain clothes detail, investigating Vickers’ alleged earlier crimes.

News10NBC Investigative Reporter Jennifer Lewke has been covering this trial since the start.

The District Attorney’s Office wrapped up its case against Vickers in those first two shootings Wednesday afternoon and has moved on to the murder of Officer Mazurkewicz.

The final witness in the murders of Myjel Rand and Ricky Collinge was a police investigator. During his testimony, jurors saw a compilation of videos that showed Kelvin Vickers inside a known drug house with what appears to be a gun in his hand.

That house had a number of cameras in and around it, and that’s all video that the jury has and will be seeing throughout this trial.

The DA’s Office has now moved on to their case against Vickers in the murder of Officer Tony Mazurkewicz.

Maz’s wife Lynn has been in the courtroom since the start of this trial and Wednesday she was joined by her husband’s former longtime partner and best friend, Dennis Cole.

Several members of the Rochester Police Tactical Unit have also sat with Lynn throughout this trial.

“I do think that the video is of such quality and clarity that the jury should not have any difficulty in determining for themselves what actually happened,” says Assistant District Attorney Perry Duckles.

“There’s been an ongoing dispute between a number of factions in the city that were turf wars, there was shootings going back and forth between these two gangs,” explains Vickers’ defense attorney, Mike Schiano. “It was a very violent time in the City where these people were shooting up houses, burning cars, and basically shooting at each other during a two to three week period, and I think you’ll hear more about that over the course of the next two to three weeks.”