SOUTHFIELD, Mich. – Four security guards charged in connection with the 2014 death of a man after an altercation at Northland Mall in Southfield have been bound over for trial.
The guards -- Lucius Hamilton, John Seiberling, Gaven King, and Aaron Maree -- are accused of restraining 25-year-old Ferndale man McKenzie Cochran in 2014. He was asked to leave the mall after an employee reported he had been acting suspiciously around a jewelry store. Cochran was pepper sprayed and pinned to the floor.
Witnesses reported they heard Cochran say he couldn’t breathe and was not resisting.
Once handcuffed, the guards noticed Cochran was unresponsive and contacted EMS. Attempts to revive him at the mall were unsuccessful. Cochran was declared deceased shortly after being transported to a nearby hospital.
He was asked to leave the mall after an employee reported he had been acting suspiciously around a jewelry store. Cochran was pepper sprayed and pinned to the floor.
The four security guards were charged with one count of involuntary manslaughter in 2021, and on Wednesday (May 17), they were bound over on charges.
“It has been clear through our review of this case that justice would require criminal charges and a trial,” says Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel. “I am grateful for the efforts of the family of MacKenzie Cochran, and the diligent work of the prosecutors in my department, to bring this case to trial despite the intervening years.”
In 2014, then Oakland County Prosecutor Jessica Cooper did not pursue criminal charges and said there was no intention to kill and no chokeholds were done by the security guards. In 2020, Cochran’s family asked Southfield police chief Elvin Barren to review the case a second time. Barren decided to send it to the Attorney General’s Office.
A fifth security guard – who was the initial guard who engaged with Cochran – died in 2017.
Hamilton, Seiberling, King, and Maree will appear next before the Oakland County Circuit Court for a pre-trial conference at a date not yet determined.
More: Oakland County news