SOUTHFIELD, Mich. – The trial for three security guards facing manslaughter charges in the 2014 death of a Ferndale man at Northland Mall in Southfield will continue Thursday, Aug. 22.
A jury was seated Monday, Aug. 19, and the trial began shortly after. On the first day, they heard from Phillip Borka, a paramedic who responded to the Northland Mall, before being dismissed.
On the second day, the jury heard testimony from four witnesses -- Neihmiah Nelson, who was hanging out at the mall at the time; and Hoy Monk, Earthena Kinney and Labieh Ansara, who were all employed at stores at the mall at the time.
On the third day, a security guard testified that the 2014 incident was not the first time other guards became physical with someone in the mall.
Testimony is expected to begin Thursday at 1:30 p.m.
Here’s what we know:
The guards -- Lucius Hamilton, John Seiberling, Gaven King, and Aaron Maree -- reportedly held down 25-year-old McKenzie Cochran. He reportedly was asked to leave the mall after an employee said he had been acting suspiciously around a jewelry store. Cochran was pepper sprayed and pinned to the floor.
Witnesses said Cochran repeatedly told the guards, “I can’t breathe,” during the struggle. Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel said he could not breathe because of the way he was positioned on the ground.
Once handcuffed, the guards noticed Cochran was unresponsive and contacted EMS. Attempts to revive him at the mall were unsuccessful. Cochran was declared dead shortly after being taken to a hospital.
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.
The four security guards were charged with one count of involuntary manslaughter in 2021. The development came seven years after the former Oakland County Prosecutor did not pursue criminal charges.
October 2021: ‘Delayed justice’ -- 4 charged years after man’s death at Northland Mall
Hamilton pleaded guilty Friday, Aug. 16, after the judge said she would likely favor a 90-day jail sentence in October. A fifth security guard -- who was the initial guard who engaged with Cochran -- died in 2017.
Defense lawyers said the guards acted in self-defense.
