Jury selection begins Monday in Charlotte in the case of Randall Kerrick, who is charged with involuntary manslaughter in the 2013 shooting death of Jonathan Ferrell.
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Shaun Corbett said watching television coverage of the reaction to a grand jury’s decision not to indict a police officer in the death of Michael Brown in Ferguson convinced him to do something to prevent violence in Charlotte.
Kerrick’s attorneys tried unsuccessfully to get the trial moved, saying extensive publicity made it unlikely the officer could get a fair trial in Mecklenburg County. They say interest in the case has increased because of the national debate about race and aggressive police tactics. In the last few months alone, several high-profile cases have fueled the issue.
But officers in Baltimore and North Charleston, South Carolina, have been charged this year following a pair of killings of unarmed black men.
The incident happened after Ferrell crashed his auto and went to a nearby home for help.
The homeowner thought he was a robber and called 911. Kerrick fired his weapon 12 times at close range.
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Kerrick and two other officers arrived at the scene and as Ferrell approached them, one officer fired his Taser and missed. In May, the city of Charlotte agreed to pay Ferrell’s family $2.25 million in a civil settlement.
