A retired police officer for the New York Police Department has confessed to shooting and killing his wife while two of their children were present, prosecutors told the New York Daily News.
Kevin Canty, 43, shot his wife 10 times with a 9-mm pistol inside their home in Ozone Park, Queens. Canty, who was allegedly drunk, was arrested after his children ran to a nearby store yelling "Daddy shot mommy!" the Daily News reported.
Authorities caught up with Canty after he fled the scene and was trying to steal a car near 97th and Centreville Streets.
Prosecutors say Canty admitted to the murder his wife, Jessica, because she slept with another man. The victim suffered bullet wounds to the stomach, upper chest, arm, armpit and breast, the Daily News reported.
"I'm sorry," Canty said to an officer while in the car on the way to the police station. "I love my wife. She was cheating on me."
Canty also said his wife was a "whore" for having an affair, prosecutors said. "I know I'm going to jail," Canty said, the Daily News reported.
The retired officer was arraigned in Queens Criminal Court on Easter Sunday on charges of second-degree murder and criminal use of a firearm.
Canty retired in November 2013 after he tore his rotator cuff while conducting a Police Academy self-defense training session, a neighbor told the newspaper. Canty was on disability.
Police sources said Canty also had a drinking problem. His wife allegedly banged on a neighbor's door one night a few weeks ago, saying her husband was drunk and threatened to kill her.
"You could smell drink on his breath every now and again," Daniel Farrell, Canty's neighbor, told the newspaper. "He was a quiet guy."
Canty faces up to 25 years in prison if he is found guilty, Meris Campbell, a spokeswoman for District Attorney Richard Brown, told the newspaper.
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