Louisiana Marshals Indicted in 6-Year-Old's Death

Video shows boy's father had his hands in the air
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted Dec 11, 2015 12:03 AM CST
Louisiana Marshals Indicted in 6-Year-Old's Death
These undated file booking photos provided by the Louisiana State Police show Marksville City Marshal Derrick Stafford, left, and Marksville City Marshal Norris Greenhouse Jr.   (Louisiana State Police via AP, File)

A grand jury has indicted two Louisiana city marshals on second-degree murder charges in last month's shooting death of 6-year-old Jeremy Mardis. Police say ex-cop Norris Greenhouse Jr., 23, and Marksville police Lt. Derrick Stafford, 32, were moonlighting as Marksville city marshals when they fired into a vehicle driven by Jeremy's father, Chris Few, who was unarmed, reports NBC News, which notes that the charges carry a mandatory punishment of life in prison without parole. In a court filing released Thursday, a police officer who witnessed the incident says he didn't fire his own weapon because "he didn't fear for his life," KATC reports.

The court filing also confirmed that body camera video from the incident, which state police investigators have called "extremely disturbing," shows that Few had his empty hands in the air when police opened fire, per KATC. Few was shot twice and critically injured, while his autistic son was shot five times and died at the scene. Outside the courthouse, Jeremy's grandmother called for the release of the video and said the shooting has been a living nightmare for the family, the AP reports. "It's been pure hell. I can't explain what it's like to bury your 6-year-old grandchild," she told reporters, adding that Jeremy's younger sister doesn't understand what happened and is "still asking to see her brother every day." (More Louisiana stories.)

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