Jury clears Fleury in boy's death

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (WWLP) - Calling it an "Awful ordeal," former Pelham Police Chief Edward Fleury left a Springfield Courtroom Friday afternoon a free man, after a jury cleared him of any responsibility in the accidental shooting death of an 8-year old boy.

A Hampden County Superior Court Jury on Friday found 53-year-old Edward Fleury "not guilty" of involuntary manslaughter.

Fleury was also found not guilty on all three counts of furnishing a machine gun to a minor. He cried and hugged his wife as he headed out of Hampden County Superior Court.

Fleury's firearms training company co-sponsored a machine gun shoot and firearms expo at the Westfield Sportsman's Club in 2008. During that expo, 8-year old Christopher Bizilj of Connecticut died after accidentally shooting himself in the face with a micro Uzi submachine gun.

As the fourth and final verdict was read, Fleury broke down, overwhelmed by emotion, being comforted by his attorney. Had he been found guilty, he could have faced up to 50 years in prison. "I want to thank God, and for all the prayers and for all the friends and family and support. This has been an awful ordeal. I pray to God to find out what he wants me to do with my life, and I want to do something to help people," he said.

Fleury expressed sympathy to the Bizilj family who quietly left the courtroom after the reading of the verdicts.

Fleury's lawyer, Rosemary Scapiccio placed blame on the boy's father, whom special prosecutor William Bennett declined to seek indictments against while he was the District Attorney. "The father wasn't charged because I thought he was punished enough. He'll have to live with whatever mistakes he made forever," said Bennett.

Fleury said he would rather "Be dropped into hell than go through this again."

Bennett said he'll meet with a judge next week to decide how to proceed against two Connecticut men, Carl Guiffre and Domenic Spano. Both have been charged in connection with involuntary manslaughter in the case. The two allegedly provided the micro Uzi used in the accidental shooting. The boy’s father, Dr. Charles Bizilj, who brought his son to the show, has not been charged.