Louisiana Cop Guilty Of Manslaughter In Jeremy Mardis Shooting Death
Back in 2015 we reported on the police-involved killing of a 6-year-old autistic boy named Jeremy Mardis. 18 bullets were fired and Jeremy was shot 5 times, including twice in the head and chest, by Louisiana cops when they tried to serve his father a warrant.
The NYPost is reporting that Derrick Stafford, one of the trigger-happy officers who killed Jeremy, has been found guilty of manslaughter and attempted manslaughter.
A dashcam video showed that Jeremy’s father had his hands raised in the air when the officers began unloading.
Stafford said he was unaware that a child was in the vehicle.
Stafford cried when a prosecutor showed him photographs of the slain first-grader. He said he didn’t know the boy was in the car when he fired and didn’t see his father’s hands in the air.
“Never in a million years would I have fired my weapon if I knew a child was in that car. I would have called off the pursuit myself,” Stafford said.
Of course this cop didn’t knowingly murder a special needs child, but that child is dead nonetheless and the cop is supposed to be equipped with training and the highest standard of judgement.
Sad. R.I.P. Jeremy Mardis.
Image via Facebook/AP
