Two South Jersey men have received life sentences for their roles in the fatal shooting of a Philadelphia police officer in October 2023.

Yobranny Martinez-Fernandez, 20, of Camden, and Hendrick Peña-Fernandez, 23, of Pennsauken were convicted on Nov. 24 of the murder of Officer Richard Mendez during an attempted auto theft at Philadelphia International Airport.

Mendez was the married father of two and a 22-year veteran of the police department.

A Philadelphia jury also found Martinez-Fernandez guilty of the murder of an alleged accomplice, Jesús Hernán Madera Durán, a Camden 18-year-old who was shot during a gunfight at the airport.

“Nothing is going to return my husband back to us, but today justice was served,” the policeman’s wife, Alexandra Carerro, said after the Nov. 24 co

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