On September 14, 2013, Jonathan Ferrell (born October 11, 1988), a 24-year-old former college football player for the
Florida A&M University Rattlers was involved in a car crash. When police arrived, he ran towards them and was shot by police officer Randall "Wes" Kerrick in
Charlotte, North Carolina
Charlotte ( ) is the List of municipalities in North Carolina, most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina and the county seat of Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, Mecklenburg County. The population was 874,579 at the 2020 United ...
.
Kerrick was charged with voluntary manslaughter, but the jury deadlocked and he was not retried. Police dashcam footage of the incident was released to the public.
Shooting
Ferrell, a black man, was unarmed at the time he was shot. While giving a co-worker a lift home on the night of September 14, 2013,
[ he crashed his car. Witnesses testified that Ferrell walked to the nearby home of Sarah McCartney after the accident and pounded on the door seeking help. McCartney thought Ferrell was trying to break in and called 911. Three officers came.]taser
Taser (stylized in all caps) is a line of handheld conducted energy devices (CED) sold by Axon Enterprise (formerly Taser International). The device fires two small barbed darts intended to puncture the skin and remain attached to the targe ...
at Ferrell and missed. Little testified that Ferrell had said "shoot me" twice as he ran up on the officers. Kerrick then opened fire on Ferrell, shooting him twelve times and killing him, fearing that the subject had a weapon or was otherwise displaying opportunity, capability, and intent to seriously harm Kerrick and his fellow officers.[
A ]toxicology
Toxicology is a scientific discipline, overlapping with biology, chemistry, pharmacology, and medicine, that involves the study of the adverse effects of chemical substances on living organisms and the practice of diagnosing and treating ex ...
test of Ferrell's blood showed a blood alcohol level within the legal limit for driving.
Legal proceedings
The day following the shooting, Officer Randall "Wes" Kerrick was charged with voluntary manslaughter
Voluntary manslaughter is the killing of a human in which the offender acted in the heat of passion, a state that would cause a reasonable person to become emotionally or mentally disturbed to the point that they cannot reasonably control thei ...
, and was released on $45,000 bail from jail. On January 21, 2014, a grand jury declined to indict Kerrick with voluntary manslaughter. On January 27, a second grand jury did indict Kerrick on a voluntary manslaughter charge. On August 21, 2015, a 26th District judge declared a mistrial
In law, a trial is a coming together of parties to a dispute, to present information (in the form of evidence) in a tribunal, a formal setting with the authority to adjudicate claims or disputes. One form of tribunal is a court. The tribunal, ...
in the case after the jury reached a deadlock, with eight jurors on one side and four on the other.Roy Cooper
Roy Asberry Cooper III ( ; born June 13, 1957) is an American attorney and politician who served as the 75th List of governors of North Carolina, governor of North Carolina from 2017 to 2025. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), De ...
, said that the state would not re-try Kerrick.
Reaction
Ferrell's cousin, Morris A. Young (Sheriff
A sheriff is a government official, with varying duties, existing in some countries with historical ties to England where the office originated. There is an analogous, although independently developed, office in Iceland, the , which is common ...
of Gadsden County, Florida), said of the incident that Ferrell had always been on the right track and was only looking for help after getting into a traffic collision
A traffic collision, also known as a motor vehicle collision, or car crash, occurs when a vehicle collides with another vehicle, pedestrian, animal, road debris, or other moving or stationary obstruction, such as a tree, pole or building. Tr ...
late at night, yet "the next thing you know, law enforcement comes and sees a young black male at night in that neighborhood. And sometimes people react to that."
On August 21, 2015, after the mistrial declaration, protesters took to the streets of Charlotte. Several areas of the city were shut down as a result, and two people were arrested.
See also
*
* Shooting of Keith Lamont Scott
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ferrell, Jonathan
Protests in the United States
History of Charlotte, North Carolina
2013 in North Carolina
Black Lives Matter
September 2013 in the United States
African Americans shot dead by law enforcement officers in North Carolina