Newly-released video shows harrowing moment North Carolina cop shot dead unarmed black man after he crashed his car and went looking for HELP
- A newly released dashcam video shows the moment that police shot dead Jonathan Ferell in September 2013
- Officer Randall Kerrick, 28, is charged with manslaughter for the shooting of Ferrell, 24, in Charlotte, North Carolina
- Ferrell had dropped a friend off in upscale neighborhood then crashed car and went to a nearby house for help
- Sarah McCartney opened the door, thinking it was husband, but retreated to her bedroom and called 911 after seeing Ferrell
- Kerrick's lawyer says the officer fired gun after Ferrell 'charged' at him
- Kerrick is facing up to 11 years in prison if convicted
The moment an unarmed black man was shot dead by police after he went seeking help following a car crash has been released in newly revealed dashcam video.
Jonathan Ferrell can be seen walking towards the officers before breaking out in a sprint when they attempt to stop him
'Get on the ground' by one of the officer just a few seconds before multiple gunshots ring out.
An officer then says 'shots fired, shots fired' before saying 'don't move.'
Prosecutors say that Officer Randall Kerrick panicked, did not identify himself and did not give any commands before shooting at the former college football player Ferrell 12 times in September 2013.
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Horrific: A newly released dashcam video shows the moment that police shot dead Jonathan Ferell in September 2013
Victim: Ferrell, 24 (seen in a family photo) went to the nearest house after crashing his car
Police officer Randall Kerrick, left, and defense attorney Michael Greene listen during opening arguments at the Mecklenburg County Courthouse on Monday
The woman who called the police on Ferrell after he knocked on her door following the car crash told the court she was scared on Monday.
S arah McCartney said she opened the door to her house around 2.30am thinking it was her husband returning from work.
But she slammed it quickly after seeing 24-year-old Ferrell outside.
'I was terrified,' she told Mecklenburg County Courthouse in Charlotte.
She said she then rushed to her bedroom to call 911.
McCartney, who was home with her one-year-old child, said she heard 'kicking and yelling' from outside.
Her home alarm went off when she slammed the door. Ferrell can be heard screaming 'shut it off!' during a call between McCartney and the 911 operator.
'He seemed very angry and mad,' she said.
Prosecutor Adren Harris said that any agitation by Ferrell was because of the car crash.
The young man, who was in his fiancee's car and unarmed, gave officer Randall Kerrick no reason to fear for his life and resort to deadly force and hitting Ferrell with 10 bullets, Harris added.
Lawyer's for Kerrick (left) have said that the trial is about 'Ferrell's bad choices' and said that the victim (right) had been smoking marijuana and drinking before the incident. Toxicology reports do not back this up
But an attorney for Kerrick said Ferrell made a number of bad choices after drinking and smoking marijuana following a fight with his fiancee, Cache Heidel.
As officers arrived, he yelled 'Shoot me!', defense attorney Michael Greene said.
Ferrell then charged at Kerrick and two other officers before they could assess the situation and tried to grab Kerrick's gun, he added.
'This case is not about race. It never was about race. This case was about choices - Jonathan Ferrell's bad choices,' Greene said.
Lawyers for both sides said video from dashboard cameras will support their version of events. That video has never been shown publicly.
The first witnesses called by prosecutors Monday were friends and family of Ferrell. They described a man who was not violent or angry.
They contradicted Kerrick's lawyer, who said Ferrell was upset the night he died, after fighting with his fiancee over his future.
'I didn’t say I love you, and I didn’t say goodbye,' Cache Heidel said of the last time she saw Ferrell, according to the Charlotte Observer.
She said that the argument had been about her boyfriend finding a 'solid foundation' to start their married life. He was being financially supported by her at the time of his death.
After playing football at Florida A&M with his brother, Ferrell had left Florida to be with Heidel.
On the night he was killed he had gone to a bar with coworkers from Best Buy after his shift. He had a second part-time job at retailer Dillard's.
Kerrick's lawyer Greene said Ferrell had been drinking and smoked marijuana before crashing Heidel's car.
But a waitress at the bar said that Ferrell had only ordered two Coors Lights along with his chicken wings.
He had driven 25 minutes and dropped off one member of his party before the crash around 2.30am, which was reportedly so violent he lost his cellphone and had to kick out a window to escape.
Max Funderburke said that Ferrell's driving was 'pretty normal' when he was being taken home, and that the pair had smoked part of a joint together but he did not know if Ferrell inhaled.
Toxicology results showed no marijuana in the victim's system and that his BAC was a legal 0.06.
The former football player at Florida A&M had moved to North Carolina to be with his fiancee Cache Heidel (pictured together at their graduation)
The house of Sarah McCartney, who called 911 after she opened the door and saw Ferrell
Ferrell went to the first house he saw after the crash.
He kept kicking and hitting the door for a few minutes - so hard that he dented it, Greene said.
There was 'no, `I need help! Turn off the alarm!'' said Greene, the defense attorney. 'It is 2.36 in the morning. This is how the subject introduced himself.'
Kerrick and the two other officers found Ferrell a short distance away, near the lighted neighborhood clubhouse. Ferrell charged the officers, said Greene.
At his autopsy, Ferrell's DNA was found on Kerrick's uniform and on the slide and trigger of the officer's gun. Kerrick's DNA was under Ferrell's fingernails, Greene said.
But prosecutors said Ferrell - not thinking straight after the wreck - only started running because he feared for his life when one of the other officers said nothing before training the laser targets from his Taser at his chest.
Defense attorney Michael Greene (pictured) and prosecutors both say that dashboard camera footage will prove their side right
A 2013 memorial marking the spot where Ferrell died in Charlotte, NC. He was shot 12 times by police
Ferrell fell on Kerrick after he was shot four times - not because he was attacking the officer, Harris said.
The prosecutor said the eight additional shots came as Ferrell writhed and tried to crawl to escape, not as he reached for the gun,
Harris is a special deputy attorney general for the state who took over after the local district attorney said his office had a conflict trying Kerrick.
The other two officers at the scene did not shoot and were not charged.
'Who polices the police when they do wrong?' Harris asked jurors, picked in a two-week process. 'You do.'
Testimony ended Monday with a paramedic testifying Ferrell was dead when he arrived, with prosecutors showing a photo of him lying face down on the edge of a road, handcuffed in a pool of blood.
Several members of Ferrell's family looked down as the picture was displayed on a big screen.
Emergency medical technician John Freeze testified he also checked on Kerrick, who showed him a cut on his lip and mumbled that he thought he was about to be sick.
A grand jury initially refused to indict Kerrick, an officer since 2011, on the voluntary manslaughter charge in January 2014, but prosecutors sent the case back a week later because the panel was missing four members. Kerrick was then indicted.
Charlotte agreed to pay Ferrell's family for $2.25million earlier this year to settle a lawsuit over the shooting.
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