New York Man Who Killed Two Detectives Removed from Death Row After Being Declared Intellectually Disabled
Ronell Wilson, 33, a Staten Island man convicted of killing two undercover NYPD detectives in a chilling 2003 shooting, has been taken off death row following a federal judge’s ruling that he is legally intellectually disabled.
Wilson was originally sentenced to death for the brutal murders of Detectives James Nemorin and Rodney Andrews, who were shot in the back of the head during an undercover operation on March 10, 2003, WPIX reports. Prosecutors alleged Wilson was linked to the Staten Island gang known as the Stapleton Crew and was attempting to steal $1,200 from the detectives posing as gun buyers.
After a jury found him guilty, Wilson was sentenced to death by lethal injection. However, his case took several twists: an appeals court overturned his death sentence in 2010 due to errors during jury deliberations. In 2013, a new jury reinstated the death penalty, and Wilson has been held at the federal prison in Terre Haute, Indiana, ever since.
Wilson’s story took another surprising turn in 2012 when he fathered a child with Nancy Gonzales, a prison guard at the New York City facility where he was held. Gonzales was later convicted and sentenced to a year and a day in prison for the illicit relationship, Daily Mail reports.
In a 2012 hearing, evidence emerged suggesting Wilson’s IQ scores might qualify him as intellectually disabled—a status that, under a 2014 Supreme Court ruling, prevents execution. After a thorough review, a judge ultimately ruled that Wilson met the legal definition of intellectual disability, leading to his removal from death row. Instead, Wilson will now serve life in prison without the possibility of parole.
