Ex-NYPD cop pleads guilty to murdering girlfriend

A former New York Police Department narcotics officer has pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in the shooting death of his 28-year-old girlfriend.

The Brooklyn district attorney's office says Jerry Bowens pleaded guilty Thursday to the murder charge and to attempted murder, assault and criminal possession of a weapon. He faces a sentence of either 30 or 40 years to life in prison.

Bowen was 42 in March 2009 when he turned himself in after the shooting of Catherine Donofrio. Authorities at the time said he had stopped by a friend's Brooklyn home with Donofrio, saying they needed to use the bathroom. Once there, he shot Donofrio and the friend, who survived with minor head and arm wounds.

Bowen had secretly pleaded guilty a month earlier to a felony drug dealing charge and quit the force.