BATON ROUGE, La. – Jury selection begins Monday for one of the Louisiana officers accused in the shooting death of a Mississippi boy.
Officers Derrick Stafford and Norris Greenhouse Jr., have been charged with the second-degree murder of six-year-old Jeremy Mardis and the attempted second-degree murder of Christopher Few. Stafford’s Jury selection starts Monday while Greenhouse’s case is expected to go to trail later this year.
In November 2015, video from an officers body camera shows 18 rounds of gunfire and the aftermath of the shooting that killed the autistic six-year-old and wounded his father during a traffic stop.
Video shows Few with his hands raised inside the car as the deputy city marshals opened fire on the two. The indecent took place in the small town of Marksville, La.
Prosecutes argue that the video proves Few was not a threat to deputies and that his hands were raised inside the car when the officers began shooting.
Defense attorneys contend that the two deputies acted in self-defense, claiming that Few drove recklessly as he led deputies on a 2-miles chase. They also argue that Few hit Greenhouse’s vehicle as he was getting out of it.
A state detective has testified that there was no physical evidence of Few’s car hitting Greenhouse’s vehicle. The detective also said however, that it couldn’t be ruled out as a possibility.
Few’s lawyers have admitted that drugs were in his system at the time of the incident and that he had attempted suicide days earlier.
