Jonathan Ferrell...alive and well.

Jonathan Ferrell...alive and well.

Beloved by his family and friends, 24-year-old Jonathan Ferrell was engaged to be married and had recently moved to Charlotte, North Carolina, from Florida to be with his fiancee. After being involved a car accident, he was shot and killed by Charlotte Officer Randall Kerrick just a few dozen yards away from his car.

Monday marked the first day of the trial of Randall Kerrick, who was charged with voluntary manslaughter, and the details that emerged are as awful as many of us have imagined. Even though Ferrell was shot in September of 2013, Charlotte officials have kept a very tight wrap on dashcam footage and other details, claiming it was to help them have an impartial jury.

Two facts emerged that are so gross and inhumane that it makes the charge of voluntary manslaughter seem like a drastic understatement.

First, we now know that Ferrell was not just shot 12 times by Officer Kerrick, but that he was first shot four times, then began to crawl and cry in pain, in which he was shot six more times while crawling, then two more times after he stopped. How the hell is this not cold-blooded murder?

Secondly, the EMT who arrived on the scene made it painfully clear in his testimony that police had no desire to see Ferrell cared for.



Emergency medical technician Jonathan Russell Freeze testified about arriving at the scene after Ferrell was shot. He said Ferrell was face down in a ditch and handcuffed. He checked for a pulse in the right wrist and right side of Ferrell’s neck, and then asked police if he could roll him over to check the other side for a pulse. He said he was told no by the officers on the scene.

Is this something police are being trained to do? We are seeing case after case of police officers completely ignoring victims of their violence

The city of Charlotte (i.e., the taxpayers) has already paid Ferrell's family $2.25 million in a wrongful death settlement, but how can it be that cities continue to pay billions of dollars in settlements while almost no officers are held personally liable for their misconduct and violence?