“I so forgive him, but I do want justice”.
Advertisement
“They may put an expert on next to say that he heard Officer Kerrick’s testimony, heard the testimony of the other officers and in his opinion deadly force was necessary”.
Ferrell’s death happened a little less than a year before an unarmed black man in New York and an unarmed 18-year-old black male in Ferguson, Missouri, died after separate violent encounters with police cases that shined a national spotlight on how police departments treat minorities and sparked calls for widespread reforms.
Kerrick offered emotional testimony on the stand Thursday as he was questioned by the defense, explaining why he shot Ferrell ten times in 2013. A person at the house called police.
Ferrell then charged at Kerrick at “full speed, like a bull rush, like a bum-rush type of run”, Little said.
Prosecutors say neither Kerrick nor fellow officer Thornell Little identified themselves or gave any commands when Ferrell approached them near the neighborhood pool. He fired his first shot about three seconds after his first order.
Kerrick’s defense lawyer, arguing the shooting was justified, has said Ferrell’s DNA was discovered on the officer’s gun and beneath his fingernails. Kerrick started working at the age of 15 to help support his family. I didn’t have time to think about that’. In it, the red dots from Little’s Taser lights are visible, but there’s nothing on the audio portion to suggest that Ferrell asked the officer to shoot him. And while Kerrick told jurors Thursday that Ferrell had knocked him to the ground, he admitted under questioning Friday that he didn’t know if he had been tackled or slipped.
“The suspect focused on me”.
“He was still advancing towards me at this time”, Kerrick said.
Kerrick described Ferrell’s pace as a fast walk.
Later asked if he was having trouble remembering the facts of the shooting, Kerrick replied to Postell, “I live it every day, ma’am”. He says Kerrick testifying is the lynchpin of this case. Kerrick testified that he felt he had no choice. “You did not try to re-holster, go hands on?” asked prosecutor Teresa Postell during the trial in state Superior Court in Charlotte.
A North Carolina police officer was back on the witness stand in Charlotte today.
“I thought I was going to die”. Kerrick did push back about why he said what he said right after the shooting.
From “an arm’s length” away, Kerrick fired at Ferrell 12 times.
Advertisement
Prosecutor Therea Postell grilled him on the stand. And pointed out the officer’s inconsistencies.
