CHARLOTTE, N.C. — A white Charlotte police officer on trial for the on-duty killing of a black man panicked and didn’t identify himself or give any commands before shooting 12 times at the agitated man seeking help in an unfamiliar neighborhood after a car crash, a prosecutor said during opening statements Monday.
Any agitation by Jonathan Ferrell was because of the September 2013 wreck, which was so violent he lost his cellphone and had to kick out a window to escape. He gave officer Randall Kerrick no reason to fear for his life and resort to deadly force, prosecutor Adren Harris said. But an attorney for Kerrick said Ferrell made a number of bad choices after drinking and smoking marijuana after a fight with his fiancee.
As officers arrived, he yelled, “Shoot me.” Ferrell then charged at Kerrick and two other officers before they could assess the situation and tried to grab Kerrick’s gun when he fell on him after being shot several times, defense attorney Michael Greene said.
“This case is not about race. It never was about race. This case was about choices — Jonathan Ferrell’s bad choices,” Greene said.