CLEVELAND, Ohio -- The partner of the Cleveland police officer on trial in the fatal shooting of an unarmed burglary suspect testified Wednesday that his partner's use of deadly force was not necessary.

Officer Gregory King said that his partner, officer Alan Buford, should have never fired the shot that killed Brandon Jones on March 19, 2015.

King said Buford fired the deadly shot within seconds of the officers grabbing Jones as he walked out of the Parkwood Grocery store with a bag of stolen cigarettes, junk food and other items.

"Did you ever at any point fear enough for your life to use deadly force?" Assistant Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Brian Radigan asked.

"No," King answered.

King's answer brought audible gasps from Jones' parents, who wept at times during Wednesday's testimony.

Buford is charged with first-degree misdemeanor negligent homicide in the shooting outside the Parkwood Grocery store in the city's Glenville neighborhood. Jones was burglarizing the store at the time of the shooting, according to testimony in the first day of Buford's trial.

King and Buford, both wearing the Cleveland police uniforms, never looked at each other during the hour that King testified.

King was visibly uncomfortable during his testimony and squirmed in his chair as he told Cleveland Municipal Judge Michael Sliwinski that he never feared for his life while trying to arrest Jones.

The case is a bench trial that will be decided by Sliwinski and is expected to last into Friday.

Defense attorney Henry Hilow sought to show the dangerous nature of the situation could cause another officer to feel enough fear to use deadly force.

King said Buford drove to the store about 2 a.m. after being dispatched there when a woman called and reported seeing Jones break into the store.

King said the neighborhood where the shooting happened was a high-crime area and that he and Buford were sent to the store as a code-one call, the most urgent type of assignment for patrol officers.

He said they didn't know if anyone else was inside the store with Jones or if anyone had any weapons that could be used on the officers.

King could hear noises coming from inside the store when they arrived, so the partners waited on the side of the front door for Jones to come out. When he did, the officers each grabbed Jones with one hand while pointing their guns at him with the other.

Jones appeared surprised to see the officers, King said. He opened his mouth but no words came out.

King testified that he never saw Jones' right hand and that he was not sure if he had a weapon or not. He also testified that he never saw Jones push Buford's arm off him after the partners grabbed Jones. He also testified on cross-examination that he had enough fear to keep his gun trained on Jones.

Jones pushed King's hand away as the officers backed Jones up towards the street. Within seconds, Buford's gun fired a single bullet into Jones' chest, King said.

"I was surprised," he said. "I just wasn't expecting it."

Jones stumbled back and collapsed in the street. King called for back up and ran into the street to check on Jones.

Jones then uttered his last words to King before losing consciousness and dying at the hospital: "I don't want to die here."

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