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 sought help after a car crash. When police arrived, he ran towards them and was killed by police officer Randall "Wes" Kerrick in

Charlotte, North Carolina Charlotte ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Located in the Piedmont region, it is the county seat of Mecklenburg County. The population was 874,579 at the 2020 census, making Charlotte the 16th-most populo ...

. Kerrick was charged with voluntary manslaughter, but not convicted. Police dashcam footage of the incident was released to the public.

Shooting

Ferrell, an African American, 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, went to a house in the Bradfield Farms neighborhood and knocked on the door. The resident, Sarah McCartney, called the police and three officers came. Ferrell then ran towards them, whereupon one of the officers fired a

taser A taser is an electroshock weapon used to incapacitate people, allowing them to be approached and handled in an unresisting and thus safe manner. It is sold by Axon, formerly TASER International. It fires two small barbed darts intended t ...

at Ferrell and missed. That same officer, Officer Thornel 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. 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 e ...

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 being in which the offender acted during ''the heat of passion'', under circumstances that would cause a reasonable person to become emotionally or mentally disturbed to the point that they canno ...

, and was released on $45,000 bail from jail. On January 21, 2014, a grand jury declined to

indict An indictment ( ) is a formal accusation that a person has committed a crime. In jurisdictions that use the concept of felonies, the most serious criminal offence is a felony; jurisdictions that do not use the felonies concept often use that of an ...

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. The Attorney General of North Carolina,

Roy Cooper Roy Asberry Cooper III (born June 13, 1957) is an American attorney and politician, serving as the 75th governor of North Carolina since 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as the 49th attorney general of North Carolina from 20 ...

, said that the state would not re-try Kerrick. On May 14, 2015, the city of Charlotte settled a separate lawsuit with Ferrell's family for $2.25 million.

Reaction

Ferrell's cousin, Morris A. Young ( Sheriff of

Gadsden County, Florida Gadsden County is a county located in the panhandle of the U.S. state of Florida. As of the 2020 census, the population was 43,826. Its county seat is Quincy. Gadsden County is included in the Tallahassee, FL Metropolitan Statistical Area. Ga ...

), 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 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. On October 2, 2015, Kerrick resigned from the police force.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ferrell, Jonathan Deaths by firearm in North Carolina Protests in the United States History of Charlotte, North Carolina 2013 in North Carolina Black Lives Matter September 2013 events in the United States African Americans shot dead by law enforcement officers in the United States Law enforcement in North Carolina

Shooting

Legal proceedings

Reaction

See also

References