Overview

• Jurors reached the verdict after roughly two hours of deliberation following closing arguments Thursday in Liberty, Missouri.
• Prosecutors emphasized deliberation, citing about 48 seconds between Rocha spotting the patrol car and the stop, dashcam video, and continued firing after the officer fell.
• Rocha admitted in a recorded police interview that he intended to shoot Officer Daniel Vasquez, later saying he was not thinking.
• The defense argued for second-degree murder, pointing to Rocha’s statement about acting in the moment and presenting limited witness testimony on his state afterward.
• The jury was drawn from a St. Louis-area suburb, and the July 2022 killing occurred during a traffic stop that marked the department’s first line-of-duty death.