On Friday, the two deputy marshals responsible for the shooting death of autistic 6-year-old Jeremy David Mardis were charged with second degree murder and attempted second degree murder. The officers were also arrested, following a Louisiana State Police (LSP) review of body camera footage that captured the fatal encounter.
The tragic shooting occurred Tuesday night after a high-speed car chase. The two officers, Norris Greenhouse Jr. and Lt. Derrick Stafford, pursued Mardis’ father, Chris Few, through Marksville, Louisiana. When Few hit a dead end, the part-time marshals opened fire on his vehicle. Mardis, a first-grader, was hit with five bullets, in the head and torso. He was buckled in the passenger seat. Few was also shot, but survived the incident.
Four officers were involved in the chase, but a total of 18 rounds were fired from Greenhouse and Stafford’s weapons. The reason for attempting to pull the driver over has not been publicized. Few was unarmed.
“We took some of the body cam footage,” said Col. Mike Edmonson of the State Police. “I’m not gonna talk about it, but I’m gonna tell you this: It is the most disturbing thing I’ve seen and I will leave it at that.” In addition to the footage, police used witness accounts and evidence collected at the scene of the shooting to justify the charges.
The investigation into the chase and Mardis’ death is still ongoing and while the legal outcome remains to be seen, it is extremely rare for police officers charged with murder to actually be convicted. Stafford was previously indicted for the aggravated rape of two victims. Both charges were dismissed without prejudice in 2012, but they can legally be brought up in court again.
Mardis was the youngest person killed by police this year. His funeral will be held on Monday.
According to a USA Today investigation, car chases by police are extremely dangerous for both passengers and bystanders alike. More than 5,066 people have been killed in high-speed changes since 1979. Many of the chases were the result of minor infractions, such as driving without a license plate or speeding. The International Association of Chiefs of Police similarly surveyed 17,000 chases and concluded that “traffic violations, misdemeanors or non-violent felonies” accounted for 92 percent of them.