PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Two men pleaded guilty on Wednesday to murder and racketeering charges nearly five years after a member of the Police Department’s SWAT unit was killed.
Hassan Elliot, 26, pleaded guilty to all federal charges after, prosecutors say, he shot and killed Sgt. James O’Connor during a raid on a home in Frankford on March 13, 2020.
A half-decade on, Teri O’Connor still mourns her husband’s death, but she tells our partners at NBC10 that avoiding a trial is a relief.
“As a family, we discussed that it would be the right thing for everybody. And we just wanted to get through today and hear that final—you know—him saying ‘guilty ,’” she said.
But Teri O’Connor said waiting for proceedings to wrap up Wednesday was difficult.
“I couldn’t take my eyes off the man who killed Jimmy. I don’t know how he could sit there so calm. And he ruined our lives,” she said.
“My birthday was March 12, and he was killed eight hours later. And we were a month short of our 25th wedding anniversary. And everything was just taken from us.”
O’Connor was shot as he attempted to serve an arrest warrant to Elliot in connection with a 2019 homicide.
O’Connor was a veteran of the Police Department for more than two decades and served in the SWAT unit for 15 years, where he held the rank of corporal when he was killed. The Department promoted O’Connor to sergeant posthumously.
Three other people are implicated in the case. One of them, Khalif Sears, 23, pleaded guilty to 10 federal charges Wednesday. The four men are part of a violent drug trafficking group in Frankford known as 1700 Scattergood, according to an indictment from 2020.
Hassan Elliot could face 55 to 75 years in prison with no appeals, according to the plea deal.
His attorney tells NBC10 he has accepted responsibility and is remorseful.