Defense attorney Michael Greene asked about Kerrick’s family, and he identified his wife, who has been sitting behind him throughout the trial.
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As a Mecklenburg County sheriff’s deputy sat to the left of the witness box as a security measure, Kerrick told the jury that he thought his gun wasn’t working because Ferrell kept coming at him.
Police said that Jonathan Ferrell wrecked his auto on the morning of September 14, 2013, and went to a nearby house and banged on the door, apparently for help.
The resident called police, and Kerrick and two other officers responded.
From “an arm’s length” away, Kerrick fired at Ferrell 12 times. Kerrick said he thought he fired four to six times, but said he now knows it was 12 times.
Kerrick has been on unpaid leave from the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department since the shooting.
Little had his Taser drawn, but the suspect continued to advance, Kerrick said, according to NBC station WCNC of Charlotte.
The defense will continue its questioning of Kerrick on Friday. The unrest resumed this week as protesters marked the one-year anniversary of Brown’s death.
During opening statements in Superior Court in Charlotte last week, prosecutors described a grisly scene in which Kerrick fired a volley of shots, then another after Ferrell had fallen at his feet, and two more after Ferrell’s body moved a final time.
Officer Randall Kerrick took the witness stand Thursday as his trial on a charge of voluntary manslaughter stretches into its third week. Kerrick’s re-creation of the incident included him yelling “Stop!” and “Get on the ground!” as loud as he could, his voice echoing throughout the almost packed courtroom. “Tears do not bring back an innocent person who was trying to be somebody positive”, Willie Ferrell, Jonathan’s brother, said.
Some of the testimony prior to Kerrick’s appearance focused on training and whether his use of deadly force was necessary.
Kerrick, 29, and Officer Thornell Little were the first to arrive at the home on Reedy Creek Road.
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Little says he gave Ferrell the command to stop, but that wasn’t heard on the dashcam video, either.
