(WXYZ) — A jury on Friday afternoon found three former security guards not guilty in the 2014 Northland Mall death of McKenzie Cochran.
RAW VIDEO: Defendants found not guilty in death of man at Northland Mall
Cochran, 25, died at Northland Mall after an altercation with the former security guards.
It's taken years for the case to be brought to trial. Gaven King, Aaron Maree and John Sieberling were the men charged. All three declined to take the stand in their own defense.
Attorneys for King argued against the charge of involuntary manslaughter, and now they’re responding to the verdict for the first time since the jury found their client not guilty after less than 2 hours of deliberation.
“They took every measure possible according to their training manual, guidelines, and expert testimony to do whatever they could to de-escalate the situation,” says Doraid Elder.
Elder and Jamil Khuja represented King.
“This was a 22-year-old kid, in college taking a part-time job as a security guard at Northland Mall," says Khuja. "Gaven feels terrible about it. He’s a very religious person.”
“I believe in my client’s innocence," says Elder. "It’s been hard on him and his family. He’s from a very religious family. In tune with the church.”
McKenzie’s family declined comment. A fourth defendant Lucius Hamilton, pled guilty before the trial and will be sentenced in October.
The case against the three men went to the jury on Friday. Once the case was handed to the jury, a request was made — they asked the judge if they could re-watch the cell phone video from inside the mall. Shortly after, the jury came back with a verdict.
The defense rested their case on Friday morning, and closing arguments took place following lunch.
Attorney General Dana Nessel released the following statement after the verdict was reached: “While today's verdict is not what we had hoped for, I am grateful for the dedicated work of the prosecutors and investigators in my office who worked tirelessly in pursuit of long-awaited answers on behalf of Mr. Cochran’s family.”
RELATED VIDEO: Watch the closing arguments from the prosecution and defense below:
7 News Detroit's Simon Shaykhet first exposed video that showed Cochran screaming for air after being pepper-sprayed and held down.
RELATED VIDEO: Trial continues for security guards charged in the 2014 death of McKenzie Cochran
The three former guards were facing involuntary manslaughter charges. Lucius Hamilton, a fourth guard, pled guilty before the start of the trial to one count of involuntary manslaughter.
On Thursday, expert witness Carl Schmidt, a forensic pathologist, took the stand for the prosecution. He was the final witness for the prosecution to take the stand.
“He died of asphyxiation and heart failure under prolonged restraint," Schmidt said.
The screams of Cochran seconds before his death at the former mall in January 2014 were at the center of the trial. Video shows Cochran screaming, "I can’t breathe. I can’t breathe.”
Cochran had been pepper-sprayed and tackled, then kept down with a knee in his back by multiple security guards, who did not wait for police to arrive after reporting threats allegedly made by Cochran.
“I don’t think this was an accident, he was basically thrown to the ground and died. You can argue it was a homicide. Death inflicted by people and circumstances he was surrounded by," Schmidt said.
In court, defense attorney Doraid Elder pushed back, seeming to accuse the expert of merely taking the stand for financial gain.
“You had to review files? Keeping track of time?" he asked.
"Haven’t sent a bill and probably won’t," Schmidt said.
“When a person with an enlarged heart begins to resist as Cochran did, he’s increasing risk of death and impairing oxygen intake," Elder asked.
"Yes that’s correct.”
