Arkansas cop gets only one year in prison for killing unarmed teenager
(The AEGIS Alliance) – An Arkansas cop was pronounced guilty on Friday for negligent homicide and sentenced to only one year behind bars in prison for the fatal shooting death of a teen that happened in June 2021.
Michael Davis exited the courthouse on Friday after being discharged from jail after making bail, pending an appeal in the case.
Davis operated as a cop in Cabot city up until he fired a deadly gunshot at aged 17 Hunter Brittain a White teenager, on June 23, 2021, near an automobile service center in the course of a basic traffic stop.
Brittain had reached into his truck’s bed for an antifreeze container when Davis fired a single gunshot right into the teen’s neck. No firearms were actually discovered at the vehicle.
Davis asserted that he said to Brittain to reveal his hands. A couple of witnesses on the scene, consisting of Brittain’s good friend inside the vehicle, stated they never heard any sort of warning.
Davis got fired for failing to switch on his body camera prior to the shooting. He activated the video camera only after the shooting that violated police department policy in the city of 25,000 around 25 miles away from Little Rock to the northeast.
In September of 2021, Davis faced charges of manslaughter and negligent homicide. National civil liberties leaders, consisting of Ben Crump, represented Brittain’s case. Crump likewise worked with George Floyd’s family members.
Davis was acquitted on the manslaughter charge, but the jury enforced the max penalty for the negligent homicide charge, one year behind bars as well as a $1,000 fine. In Arkansas, negligent homicide is only a misdemeanor. The jury discussed the penalty for around 3 hours.
“The jury spoke clearly today when it found former Lonoke Deputy Sheriff Michael Davis guilty of negligent homicide and gave him the maximum sentence that could be provided under the law,” Crump and fellow lawyer Devon Jacob stated.
If Michael Davis were an ordinary person, it’s very likely that the manslaughter charge would have stuck, and they’d be serving more time in prison than just one year.
Jeffrey Childers – The AEGIS Alliance – This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
