On Friday, a Bexar County jury sentenced a convicted cop killer to death by lethal injection.
Otis McKane, 35, was convicted last month of a charge of capital murder of a police officer. A jury in the 379th District Court found McKane guilty of the Nov. 20, 2016 shooting death of San Antonio Police Detective Benjamin Marconi. Marconi was conducting a traffic stop outside Public Safety Headquarters when, evidence showed, McKane walked up to Marconi and shot him twice as he sat in his marked patrol car.
“The cold-blooded assassination of Detective Marconi is inexcusable. This officer was doing his job when this defendant chose to take Detective Marconi’s life. No sentence will bring him back. I am thankful for the hard work of this jury, chosen during a pandemic and seated to hear evidence over the last four weeks during the trial. I also want to acknowledge our team who spent the last year preparing this case for trial,” said District Attorney Joe Gonzales.
Assistant District Attorneys Mario Del Prado, Jessica Schulze Tamara Strauch and Nathan Morey prosecuted the case. They were assisted by Investigators Anthony Rodriguez, Brian King and Jonathan Brown and Advocate Jacqueline Garcia.
“Benjamin Marconi’s 50 years on this earth matter. Benjamin Marconi mattered to his friends and family and coworkers at the police department. He mattered because he’s the kind of man who went in and saved a child. It’s so easy to forget that because he’s not here. He hasn’t met the rest of his grandchildren. His family, for the rest of their lives, they’re going to mourn him,” said Del Prado, Chief of the Major Crimes Division.