‘A long, long marathon’ ends with Kelvin Vickers murder conviction

ROCHESTER, N.Y. — After a four-week trial, Kelvin Vickers Jr. was convicted on all 26 counts against him, including aggravated murder of Rochester Police Officer Anthony Mazurkiewicz and attempted murder of Officer Seno Seng, as well as the murders of two other men, Ricky Collinge and Myjel Rand.

Several current and former Rochester police officers were in the courtroom on Friday for the verdicts, including retired tactical officer Dennis Cole.

“It was a nightmare that started on July 21 of 2022 and it’s been one day and one moment at a time. It’s a long, long marathon,” Cole said.

A marathon that finally came to an end on Friday as Vickers was convicted on all charges.

Cole said that he and his fellow officers have been there for the family of Mazurkiewicz since day one.

“There have been police officers that have been right there all along since this horrible situation has happened. The tac (tactical) unit, the Rochester Police Department, they have been awesome,” Cole said.

Despite the convictions, Vickers’ defense attorney Michael Schiano said they plan on appealing the jury’s decision.

“There are a number of grounds for appeal. Again, you are dealing with an issue where the judge joined two indictments. We have three separate homicides that were all joined together. Clearly, that’s going to be an issue that the appellate court is going to take a look at, I think,” Schiano said Friday after all but two of the guilty verdicts were read in the morning.

(The remaining two guilty counts — aggravated murder and aggravated attempted murder, which hinged on whether Vickers was aware that Mazurkiewicz and Seng were police officers — came later, in the afternoon.)

But according to Monroe County District Attorney Sandra Doorley, the jury’s decision will be upheld.

“You know, we’ve met with my appeals bureau. You know, we’ve been looking at the law each and every step of the way and you know obviously, there will be an appeal but I think we are fine on the law and these verdicts will be upheld,” Doorley said.

It’s a verdict that Rochester Police Chief David Smith hopes will bring some closure to the family and the police department.

“This is a lesson. If you are going to ambush a police officer, if you are going to attack a police officer, hurt a police officer, there is a price to be paid,” Smith said.