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07-14-2023, 08:53 AM
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Tamara McLoyd Convicted in Cleveland Officer's Death
Tamara McLoyd, then 18, was convicted of aggravated murder and other charges in the December 31, 2021, fatal shooting and robbery of off-duty Cleveland Police Department officer Shane Bartek, 25, outside his Cleveland apartment. Bartek, a Fifth District officer hired in 2019, was leaving for a Cleveland Cavaliers game at about 6 to 6:30 p.m. when McLoyd approached him from behind in the parking lot of Cross Creek Apartments in the Rocky River Drive area of Cleveland's West Park/Kamm's Corner neighborhood. Armed with a revolver, she demanded and took his cellphone, wallet and car keys. Bartek lunged for the gun, and McLoyd fired, fatally striking him. She fled in his Mazda. Bartek was taken to a hospital and pronounced deceased. McLoyd, of the Garfield Heights area, had no prior personal connection to Bartek, and there was no indication he was targeted because he was a police officer. The shooting occurred during a string of opportunistic armed robberies and carjackings for vehicles, phones, cash and other property in November and December 2021. McLoyd had a juvenile record and was on probation from Lorain County for involvement in a prior armed robbery and home invasion around the time the spree began. On December 25, 2021, McLoyd and another unidentified person had carjacked Raphael Hernandez as he unloaded his vehicle at the same apartment complex. Other robberies involved Jermaine Hagwood and getaway driver Jada Hite. Anthony Butler Jr. later possessed and drove Bartek's stolen vehicle. McLoyd transferred the Mazda after the shooting, a transaction linked through Instagram messages and other means, and was arrested hours later in a gas station area. During a police interrogation without an attorney present, she initially denied involvement but later admitted shooting Bartek and possessing the vehicle shortly afterward, while claiming the shooting was an "accident." She also made admissions during a recorded jail call. Surveillance video captured the approach, struggle, shooting and flight. McLoyd's DNA was found on the recovered revolver, while Instagram messages linked her to the vehicle transfer and the Christmas Day carjacking. Police recovered the Mazda after a pursuit involving Butler, who later pleaded guilty to related lesser charges. The autopsy was consistent with the video. Some forensic results varied in strength, but the video and admissions were central evidence. A Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court jury found McLoyd guilty on August 3, 2022, of aggravated murder for a death during aggravated robbery, murder, felonious assault, aggravated robbery, grand theft, having weapons under disability and related charges tied to Bartek's killing and the Christmas Day robbery. The jury rejected the prior-calculation-and-design aggravated murder count but found a purposeful killing during aggravated robbery. Judge John O'Donnell sentenced her on September 27, 2022, to life imprisonment with parole eligibility after approximately 47 years after a later adjustment involving firearm specifications. The sentence was initially reported in the 50 to 54-year range. Separate proceedings produced convictions for additional November and December 2021 armed robberies involving McLoyd, Hagwood and Hite. Hagwood received about 36.5 years, Hite about 16 years and Butler about three years on lesser charges. The Ohio 8th District Court of Appeals upheld McLoyd's convictions, including the murder conviction, in 2023. The video is a police interview-room recording that runs about 52 minutes. It shows the interview itself, without narration or a presenter.
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