Man sentenced to 40 years overall in Memphis officer killing

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — A man who fatally shot Memphis’ first female police officer killed in the line of duty was sentenced Tuesday to a total of 40 years in prison on an array of charges.

Twenty-five-year-old Treveno Campbell was sentenced to 25 years for his second-degree murder conviction in the December 2012 shooting death of Officer Martoiya Lang, a 32-year-old mother of four.

He also was sentenced by Shelby County Criminal Court Judge James Beasley to another eight years for attempted second-degree murder, six additional years for using a firearm while committing a felony and one more year on a marijuana count. Beasley ordered the sentences to be served consecutively.

Campbell was convicted Jan. 31 after a trial in which his attorney cast scrutiny on the tactics used by officers who raided the man’s home.

Campbell had testified he was asleep in his room when he heard a loud “boom” and then people entering his rental home. Campbell said he began firing wildly because he thought he was the victim of a home invasion and didn’t know it was police officers who had crashed through his front door.

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“I didn’t know what was going on,” Campbell testified. “A whole lot of racket. I was scared to death.”

Officers testified they repeatedly yelled “police search warrant” as Lang and her fellow Organized Crime Unit officers entered after smashing through the door with a battering ram.

The officers were looking for another person, a suspected cocaine dealer. The group known as Team 6, had safely served more than 200 warrants in 2012 before the deadly raid, according to trial testimony.

Lang was shot in the left shoulder while standing in the doorway of Campbell’s bedroom. She was pulled from the house by a fellow officer before she died. Another officer, William Vrooman, was shot in the leg. He survived.

Evidence showed Campbell was not mentioned in the warrant and officers never found the suspect nor any cocaine. Authorities said they did find cash and a large amount of marijuana.

Defence attorney William Massey questioned the police tactics at trial. He pressed officers to explain why Lang didn’t have a colleague right beside her when she was shot; Vrooman testified he had just cleared the kitchen but was shot before reaching her.

Campbell said he had his hands up when he was shot three times. But Sgt. Darryl Dotson testified that Campbell was pointing a gun at him when he shot Campbell.

Retired former Officer Timothy Goodwin, a Team 6 member at the time of the raid, exercised his Fifth Amendment rights to not testify during trial. Goodwin and another officer were relieved of duty during a Tennessee Bureau of Investigation into inconsistent statements made about the shooting.

Adrian Sainz, The Associated Press

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