Jury hung in 2006 murder of Metra police officer

MARKHAM, Ill. (WLS) -- Deliberations in the murder trial of Jemetric Nicholson, accused of killing a Metra police officer in 2006, ended Friday with hung jury. The judge declared a mistrial.

"We deadlocked. We could not come to a decision," juror Tara McManus said. "There were people on both sides."

The split was 10 guilty to 2 not guilty, jurors said Friday.

Nicholson allegedly shot and killed Metra Police Officer Thomas Cook in Harvey, Ill. Cook was on-duty, investigating a series of armed robberies at the Harvey Metra station when he was fatally shot while inside his marked squad car.

Nicholson was arrested in 2010. His trial began two weeks ago, and jurors got the case on Wednesday.

"I, for two weeks, have been in a room watching and listening and seeing things that I never want to see again in my life. And I feel disappointed today that we were unable to bring justice to that family," juror Carrie Buikema said.

"The majority of us did come with a guilty verdict. It was very troublesome for me. Tears were shed, you know, and a lot of words were said. Some things were personal," juror Randi Goers said.

Officer Cook's family did not comment on camera Friday, but his widow, Pam Cook, met with some jurors afterward.

"It made me feel better because I know that they were on my side and fighting for us. And that helped," Pam Cook said.

"I told her, I really did try. And I'm sorry. And I do plan on being there for the retrial," Goers said, just to show her support of the Cook family.

Jurors said Friday that much of the prosecution's case rested on Jeremy Lloyd, who pleaded guilty in the case. Lloyd agreed to testify against Nicholson as part of his plea deal and told jurors he saw Nicholson hold up a gun, but didn't see him pull the trigger.

"This was a case of one individual, pointing the finger at my client, worked out a deal where he got 20 years for testifying," Defense Attorney David Sotomayor said.

"There were people who believed him to the hilt. And there were those that didn't," McManus said.

Nicholson's retrial is scheduled for January. He remains in prison because he is serving time on an unrelated crime.