Sirens. Then the deafening sound of gunfire. Vomiting.
Video footage released by a judge in Louisiana shows several police officers firing multiples shots into a car, killing a 6-year-old boy.
The incident took place in November 2015 and prompted the indictments of two Louisiana marshals on second degree murder and second degree attempted murder charges.
Jeremy Mardis was shot five times by Marksville marshals. His father was also critically wounded, CBS News reported. Prosecutors showed the tape in court on Wednesday to support a claim that one of the deputies, Derrick Stafford, had a history of excessive force.
The boy’s father, Christopher Few, had refused to pull over for police during a chase.
Stafford and fellow marshal Norris Greenhouse were charged after prosecutors saw the footage. Attorneys for Stafford said he was acting in self-defense, as Few had just rammed his vehicle into a police car and was backing toward police.
District Court Judge William Bennett said the footage doesn’t necessarily show Few using his vehicle as a weapon.
In the footage, an officer can be heard saying, “I never saw a kid in the car, bro.” The officer who is wearing a body camera then walks around to the passenger side, showing broken windows. As he shines his flashlight, he sees the child’s body, and then he speaks to him before checking for a pulse.
Another officer can then be heard vomiting off-camera, CNN reported. An officer then unbuckles the child’s seatbelt, saying “oh my God” before he walks away.
The video was captured by Marksville Police officer Sgt. Kenneth Parnell, who was responding to the pursuit after hearing the call on radio, WAFB reported.
“Man, I didn’t see a kid in the car,” Greenhouse can later be heard saying, according to the station.
