Two Louisiana cops who killed a 6-year-old boy have been charged with murder after bodycam footage showed that his father had his hands up when they opened fire.
Derrick Stafford, 32, and Norris Greenhouse Jr., 23, were also charged with attempted murder after firing upon a vehicle at what Louisana State Police described as “the conclusion of a pursuit.”
Jeremy Mardis was shot five times, according to the Avoyelles Parish coroner’s office, and his father, Chris Few, was also critically injured.
Police have not yet released the footage.
The head of the Louisiana State Police earlier said that video of the shooting is one of the most disturbing things he’s ever seen, CBS News’ David Begnaud reported.
“This was not a threatening situation for the police,” Mark Jeansonne, the attorney for Chris Few, told the Associated Press after a closed hearing for the marshals.
Few remained hospitalized, and he was unable to attend the family’s funeral for his son, 6-year-old Jeremy Mardis.
Questions are also swirling about the claim of a pursuit, with CBS’s Bergnaud describing the answers he’s receiving as the strangest he’s received in 15 years of reporting.
“That is one question I’ve been trying to ask for three days, and the answers I’ve been getting are some of the most bizarre I’ve ever gotten,” Bergnaud said. “There was no warrant, there was no 911 call… there was nothing to indicate why these 2 officers moonlighting as deputy marshals at the time would have pulled over his man. Nothing to indicate why they would have turned on their lights in Marksville and pursued him down the dead-end road that led to the shooting.”
Huffington Post reports that at least 18 rounds were fired into the vehicle.
Police initially said the marshals were attempting to serve Few a warrant when he attempted to reverse his SUV into the officers. Edmonson, however, said there’s no evidence of a warrant for Few and couldn’t confirm that Few attempted to back into the officers. The state police leader also said no gun was found that could be linked to Few.
Jeremy, a first-grader in elementary school, died at the scene from head and chest wounds, Avoyelles Parish Coroner Dr. L. J. Mayeux said last week.