Police
Trial begins for Charlotte officer who killed Jonathan Ferrell while he was seeking help
The trial begins for the officer who killed Jonathan Ferrell

The trial has began for officer Randall Kerrick, who fatally shot Jonathan Ferrell, while seeking help.
Kerrick shot eight rounds at the fallen body of the unarmed former college football player who had knocked on the door of a house in an unfamiliar neighborhood seeking help after a car crash.
The fatal shooting happened in September 2013 amid the beginning of the national debate over the deaths of young black men that followed the killing of Trayvon Martin in 2012, but preceded the deaths of black men at the hands of law officers in Ferguson, Mo., Baltimore, North Charleston, S.C., Staten Island and other places.
A lawyer for Officer Kerrick said the shooting was due to bad decisions made by Mr. Ferrell, who, he said, had been drinking and smoking marijuana, and had behaved aggressively when he knocked on a stranger’s door after crashing his fiancée’s car.
Prosecutors, on the other hand, are portraying Mr. Ferrell as a soft-spoken young man who had been out with friends and was simply looking for help.
What prosecutor’s say what happened that night:
On Sept. 14, 2013, Mr. Ferrell crashed a car on a dark stretch of road outside Charlotte. After freeing himself by kicking out the back windshield, he walked to a nearby home and knocked on the door to ask for help around 2:30 a.m. The woman living there, Sarah McCartney, who was home with her 1-year-old son, believing he was trying to break in, triggered a burglar alarm and called the police. Officer Kerrick arrived with two other officers 11 minutes later. Soon after, he fired 12 rounds at Mr. Ferrell, hitting him 10 times — eight of them while he was on the ground — and killing him on the spot.
Prosecutors say that Ferrell ran fearing for his life after another officer aimed a taser at him. Mr. Ferrell ducked between two cars, where Officer Kerrick was standing. Officer Kerrick then fired four times at him. Both fell down, and Officer Kerrick continued to fire at Mr. Ferrell’s now lifeless body.
The defense rejected that account, stating that Mr. Ferrell attacked Officer Kerrick even after being shot several times, climbing on top of him and striking the officer’s face until he was subdued.
Officer Kerrick, who has been suspended without pay, was charged quickly after the shooting. But it took a second grand jury to send him to trial after a first declined to indict.
Discover more from Unheard Voices Magazine
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
-
Crime & Justice2 weeks ago
Black couple survives alleged racist attack, car crash in rural Virginia
-
Black And Missing2 weeks ago
Body of missing North Carolina teen Giovanni Pelletier found in Florida retention pond, family confirms
-
Crime & Justice2 weeks ago
Florida teen arrested after allegedly killing parents
-
Crime & Justice3 days ago
Alabama mother sues state workers after 3-year-old son dies in scorching hot car
-
News2 weeks ago
Family seeks justice for San Antonio, TX woman fatally mauled by pitbull dog
-
Community4 days ago
New Jersey mourns Esiyah Dixon-Waheed, pageant queen, HBCU alumna, killed in Missouri drunk-driving crash
-
Crime & Justice23 hours ago
Virginia man sentenced to life for murder of New Jersey councilwoman Eunice Dwumfour
-
Community2 weeks ago
A New York City hospital needs help identifying woman hospitalized over 100 days