ROCHESTER, N.Y. – The widow of a Rochester Police Officer, who was ambushed and murdered in the line of duty, shared her grief publicly for the first time on Friday.  

Officer Tony Mazurkewicz was part of an undercover detail on the night of July 21, 2022 when the minivan in which he was sitting was sprayed with bullets. Twenty-two-year-old Kelvin Vickers was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole on Thursday for his murder. 

“This was my husband. He wasn’t just a man in blue,” Lynn Mazurkewicz said while holding up a picture of Tony.

Tony Mazurkewicz was a father of four and a grandfather of three.

“They were the joys of his life, his three grandchildren,” Lynn said. “Inmate Vickers took him from all of them.”

Lynn Mazurkewicz was in the courtroom for every minute of Vickers’ trial.

“He’s a monster who looked like he could care less each day during trial and sentencing. He even laughed. This man had no soul,” she said. 

When Vickers was sentenced, “My children and I heard the words that we’ve prayed so long for. ‘Life without the possibility of parole. I do pray this man never walks the earth again. I hope he’s always known only as the prison numbers on his chest.”

Since Tony’s death, the men and women of RPD’s tactical unit have been a comfort to his family.

“These are my people. Without them, I’m not sure I would have made it,” Lynn said while flanked by members of the team. “I feel like I’ve developed a true sense of why my husband had not retired. It was these guys – because he loved them.”

The support has helped but the days are still very long for the family of Tony Mazurkewicz.

“My grandchildren will forever grieve their papa, my children grieve their father, and I will grieve my husband as I spend the rest of my days alone, which is not how we planned it. It’s not fair. So, I ask that you remember his name, remember how unjust this murder was, just remember him… Officer Tony Mazurkiewicz,” Lynn said.