Kerrick Trial: Tearful Testimony as Witnesses Recall Last Encounters with Ferrell
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CHARLOTTE, NC — Two very different descriptions of the night a CMPD officer shot and killed an unarmed man.
Eight witnesses testified Monday in the voluntary manslaughter trial for Officer Wes Kerrick.
It was also the first time the public saw Ferrell’s body after the shooting.
Witnesses cried recalling the last encounter with Ferrell before Officer Kerrick shot him.
“I was terrified, worried about my child,” said Sarah McCartney.
McCartney cried as she listened to the 911 call she made while she says Ferrell banged on her front door before 3:00am in Sept. 2013.
She told jurors she feared Ferrell was trying to break in to her home where she was alone with her one-year-old child.
Several Best Buy coworkers testified he met them for a drink at Hickory Tavern that night. A waitress said he did not seem drunk. A friend testified Ferrell later smoked marijuana with him. When he left, he crashed in the woods near McCartney’s home.
“Did you ever ask this person what they wanted?” questioned prosecutors.
“I did not,” she said.
The defense says Ferrell never mentioned he’d wrecked.
“Did you ever hear somebody say, ‘Come back, come back! I need help!’?” questioned defense attorney George Laughrun.
The woman said no.
Ferrell’s mother shook her head as prosecutors showed a picture of his body for the first time.
Robinson Volunteer Fire Department Assistant Chief John Freeze was the first emergency responder to the scene after the shooting. He told jurors Ferrell was face down, handcuffed and had no pulse.
Defense attorneys argued the photo shouldn’t be shown.
“There’s no true purpose in this case other than to show him laying down in a ditch for the jury to develop sympathy,” said Defense Attorney Michael Greene.
The judge overruled, saying the photo was relevant.
Freeze said Kerrick’s injuries included a red mark on his cheek and a cut in his mouth. He also had blood on his uniform and boots.
“He was in stress, shock, pale, clammy,” said Freeze.
Perhaps the most emotional testimony came from Ferrell’s fiance, Cache Heidel. She cried remembering an argument with Ferrell that day over his career ambition.
“I was the angry one that day,” said Heidel. “I didn’t say ‘I love you’. I didn’t say bye, and he texted me, told me to have a good day.”
Testimony continues Tuesday with Assistant Chief Freeze continuing where he left off. He last told jurors about leaving the scene and noticing Ferrell’s crashed car in the woods.
He then notified CMPD.
