'I'm truly sorry. There is nothing that breaks my heart more than a police officer dying': Remorseful judge who freed suspected NYPD cop killer Tyrone Howard apologizes for her mistake

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Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Patricia Nuñez has expressed deep remorse over her decision to turn loose suspected cop killer Tyrone Howard, 30,

The judge who freed the serial criminal offender who allegedly killed beloved New York police officer Randolph Holder has apologized profusely for her mistake and said the cop's death 'broke her heart.'

Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Patricia Nuñez has expressed deep remorse over her decision to turn loose suspected cop killer Tyrone Howard, 30, earlier this year. 

She told The New York Post on Friday that after Howard allegedly shot and killed 33-year-old Holder in the forehead in East Harlem this week, the news 'broke her heart.' She added: 'I am truly sorry.' 

Nunez had presided over a 2014 drug case involving Howard. In May, she chose to send him to rehab instead of jail despite his lengthy criminal history including similar felonies. 

He is due to be sentenced in this case on November 12 when Nunez said she will 'set the record straight.' 

When reporters from the paper caught up with Nunez outside a parking garage in the Bronx, she said: 'There is nothing 'that breaks my heart more than a police officer dying.' 

Meanwhile, Justice Edward McLaughlin, the judge who, along with Nunez suggested rehab instead of prison for Howard, defended their decision to free the accused cop-killer.

After Holder's death, McLaughlin told reporters: 'I don't get a crystal ball when I get a robe.' 

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Gunned down: Tyrone Howard, 30 (left), has been charged with the shooting death of NYPD officer Randolph Holder (right), who was gunned down in East Harlem

Nunez was on her way to lower Manhattan on Friday, where a grand jury was about to begin hearing testimony against Howard for first-degree murder when she made the remarks.

Howard, 30, was charged with first-degree murder and first-degree robbery following the slaying of Holder on Tuesday night.

According to police, minutes before Holder's death, Howard was involved in a gun battle with rival gang members on the roof of the building at 420 East 102nd Street.

Howard fled the scene and robbed a passing bystander of his bicycle at gunpoint. Officer Holder and his partner, both in plain clothes, were on foot patrol nearby and were called to the scene.

Howard put down the bike as the officers approached him and opened fire. One of the shots hit Holder in the head.

Holder's partner, Officer Omar Wallace, fired back at Howard, hitting him in the leg.  

Howard was later apprehended, arrested and hospitalized after he allegedly shot the NYPD officer about 9 p.m. on Tuesday night. Holder was pronounced dead in hospital some time later.

Police also say that Howard, 30, has been wanted in relation to the drug-related shooting of a 28-year-old man in the East River Houses on September 1 but has managed to evade authorities 10 times since

On Wednesday, dozens of Holder's family and friends - many of them police officers and colleagues - piled into Manhattan Criminal Court to see Howard's charges be handed down. 

Howard - a career criminal - had also been wanted in relation to the drug-related shooting of a man in the Lower East Side on September 1 - but managed to evade authorities 10 times since.

He was arraigned on Wednesday night over the death of the cop, with the victim's parents seated behind him in court. 

Howard, described as a hardened criminal, has been arrested 28 times since he was 13. He is now 30 

Dozens of family and friends of Randolph Holder walking into Manhattan Criminal Court for the arraignment

Howard is now awaiting indictment in the Manhattan Detention Complex and will be in court on Tuesday to hear the grand jury's decision, The New York Post reports.

NYPD scuba divers are today carrying out a widespread search of the East River in a bid to locate the murder weapon - a .40-caliber handgun that cops said Howard may have thrown in the water. 

Earlier on Wednesday, officials explained parts of Howard's extensive criminal history.

'You're talking about an individual that was arrested 28 times since the age of 13. You're talking about 23 adult arrests, you're talking about 5 minor arrests,' NYPD's Chief of Manhattan Detectives William Aubry told reporters, Gothamist reported. 

Meanwhile, Holder's father, Randolph Holder sr., said that his son 'had always wanted to be a cop, just like his dad.'

He paid tribute to a 'fun-loving, caring young man, always with a smile on his face.' 

Howard, center, appears at his arraignment in Manhattan Criminal Court in New York on October 21

Randolph Holder Sr., (center) the victim's father, exits Manhattan criminal court following the arraignment of Howard

New York Police investigate the scene of the fatal shooting on Wednesday. NYPD scuba divers are carrying out a widespread search of the East River in a bid to locate the murder weapon

Police officers, including one with a metal detector, work at the scene of the fatal shooting in New York

NYPD OFFICERS KILLED IN THE LINE OF DUTY IN THE PAST 10 MONTHS

Randolph Holder is the fourth NYPD officer to be killed in the the past 10 months. 

On December 20, officers Wenjian Liu, 32, and Rafael Ramos, 40, were ambushed and assassinated by a gun-toting man in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn. Ismaaiyl Brinsley, a cop-hating gunman targeted them because he was angry over the racially tinged deaths of Eric Garner and Michael Brown, who died at the hands of police.

Officer Brian Moore, 25, was patrolling in an unmarked police car with his partner Erik Jansen on May 9 near 212th Street and 104th Avenue in Queens when he was gunned down and killed. He had been trying to question Demetrius Blackwell, 35, who had been suspiciously playing with something in his belt.