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Prosecutor: Officers who fatally shot boy weren't in danger
Source: Associated Press
Prosecutor: Officers who fatally shot boy weren't in danger
By MICHAEL KUNZELMAN, ASSOCIATED PRESS MARKSVILLE, La. — Mar 20, 2017, 7:47 PM ET
Two Louisiana law enforcement officers weren't in any danger when they fired a barrage of bullets at a car, killing a 6-year-old autistic boy and critically wounding his father, a prosecutor said Monday at the start of a murder trial for one of the officers.
But an attorney for Derrick Stafford blamed the deadly confrontation on Jeremy Mardis' father, calling him "the author of that child's fate." Defense attorney Jonathan Goins said the father, Christopher Few, led officers on a dangerous, high-speed chase and rammed a deputy's vehicle before the shooting.
"Innocent people do not run from the police. Innocent people stop their vehicles, surrender to the police," Goins said during the trial's opening statements.
Prosecutors say none of the father's actions that night can justify the deadly response by Stafford and another deputy city marshal, Norris Greenhouse Jr.
Video from a police officer's body camera shows Few had his hands raised inside his vehicle "in a universal sign of surrender" while the officers fired their semi-automatic pistols, Assistant Attorney General Matthew Derbes said. At least four of their 18 shots ripped into the child's body while he was strapped into the front seat.
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By MICHAEL KUNZELMAN, ASSOCIATED PRESS MARKSVILLE, La. — Mar 20, 2017, 7:47 PM ET
Two Louisiana law enforcement officers weren't in any danger when they fired a barrage of bullets at a car, killing a 6-year-old autistic boy and critically wounding his father, a prosecutor said Monday at the start of a murder trial for one of the officers.
But an attorney for Derrick Stafford blamed the deadly confrontation on Jeremy Mardis' father, calling him "the author of that child's fate." Defense attorney Jonathan Goins said the father, Christopher Few, led officers on a dangerous, high-speed chase and rammed a deputy's vehicle before the shooting.
"Innocent people do not run from the police. Innocent people stop their vehicles, surrender to the police," Goins said during the trial's opening statements.
Prosecutors say none of the father's actions that night can justify the deadly response by Stafford and another deputy city marshal, Norris Greenhouse Jr.
Video from a police officer's body camera shows Few had his hands raised inside his vehicle "in a universal sign of surrender" while the officers fired their semi-automatic pistols, Assistant Attorney General Matthew Derbes said. At least four of their 18 shots ripped into the child's body while he was strapped into the front seat.
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Read more: http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/jurors-hear-opening-statements-officers-murder-trial-46248566