CHARLOTTE -- CMPD Officer Randall Kerrick, who is charged with voluntary manslaughter in the fatal shooting of Jonathan Ferrell in 2013, took the stand Thursday in his own defense. He said he felt Ferrell was going to assault him or take his gun before the shots were fired.
An emotional Kerrick answered questions about his background, becoming a police officer and his training. He also went through items from his uniform the night of the shooting.
During questioning, Kerrick described a prior incident in which he and another officer pulled Tasers on a suspect and he was instructed afterward to use lethal force in that situation.
Kerrick then testified about the night of the shooting. He described driving to the breaking and entering call in the Bradfield Farms Neighborhood. He said he arrived at the home and it was dark but looked secure. Kerrick heard yelling and grunting sounds at the pool area, and he followed another officer, Thornell Little, to that area.
Kerrick said Ferrell matched the description of the suspect and he did not know if he was armed. He said Little had his Taser drawn but Ferrell ran right at them.
Kerrick said, based on his training, he drew his weapon to back up Little. He said after the Taser was deployed, he yelled "stop" and drew Ferrell's attention toward himself and away from Little. He said Ferrell continued in his direction.
"The suspect was coming aggressively towards me," Kerrick said.
Kerrick said he continued with loud verbal commands, Ferrell did not comply, and Ferrell's hand went toward his waistband as he charged. He felt Ferrell was going to "attack" him.
"He was going to assault me, he was going to take my gun from me," said Kerrick.
Kerrick said he deployed his service weapon when Ferrell got within arm's distance of him - about 3 to 5 feet away. He said, at some point, there was physical contact and he fell backward. Kerrick said he though he fired 4 to 6 shots and feared for his life as Ferrell kept coming at him.
"I thought I was going to die because nothing I would do could stop him," Kerrick said.
Kerrick said he was bleeding from his lip and inside his mouth from the altercation. His left arm was also scraped.
Before Kerrick took the stand, jurors heard from Officer Little. According to Little’s testimony, Ferrell was yelling and screaming, pacing, and pounding his hands on his thighs when he arrived. He said Ferrell walked towards him and said “shoot me” twice.
Kerrick testified that he did not hear if he said anything.
Little called it abnormal and odd behavior, so much so he felt the need to fire his Taser for the first time in his 13 years of service. He also testified that both he and Kerrick gave Ferrell commands to stop, but he didn't. Instead, he continued to run at them.
“It was a full-speed bum rush,” he said. “I remember looking down at my Taser and then I look up and I see the subject running at Officer Kerrick.”
During cross-examination, the state replayed the dash cam video of the incident at least seven times, asking Little to identify when Ferrell says “shoot me,” because it is not audible on the tape, or point out where Ferrell paces and acts erratically.
Little couldn't, but stuck with his story. Two CMPD detectives who interviewed Little hours after the shooting also took the stand. The jury heard an audio tape of his interview at the scene of the crime, in which Little’s description of events was the same as his testimony in court.
Officer Adam Neal was brought back up to the stand briefly and asked to confirm if a sketch of Kerrick and Ferrell on the ground after the initial volley of shots matched what he saw that night. He said it did, but he was not 100 percent certain.
Jonathan Ferrell's brother, Willie Ferrell, responded to Kerrick's Thursday testimony. Watch below: