By Dylan T. Lovan, The Associated Press
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) - Undercover officers weren’t expecting Michael Newby to interrupt the Jan. 3 drug bust that ended with Newby’s fatal shooting, witnesses said Friday in the murder trial of the detective charged in the killing.
Louisville officers were waiting near a liquor store in western Louisville for a dealer that the narcotics detective, McKenzie Mattingly, had contacted by phone that night. Some of the officers and two witnesses testified Friday that while Mattingly was waiting in an undercover vehicle, he was approached by Newby and two other men who wanted to sell crack cocaine to him.
Minutes later, Newby would be shot three times in the back. He died at a hospital the next morning.
Newby, 19, was the seventh black man killed by Louisville police since 1998, sparking weeks of protests of the department.
Mattingly, who is white, was fired in April following his indictment. He was the first Louisville officer to be criminally charged in any of the shootings.
“If you’re here doing business, you need to do it with us,” a witness, Matthew Gibson, heard one of the men tell Mattingly the night of the shooting. It wasn’t clear if the man was Newby.
Gibson and his twin brother, Mitch - both civilians on a police ride-along that night - were listening along with police to the wire transmitter that Mattingly was wearing as he sat in an undercover vehicle.
“They were overbearing,” Matthew Gibson said of Newby and the two men, who continued to prod Mattingly to buy from them instead of the dealer he expected to meet.
Mattingly was then robbed by one of the men who approached his car, and he got out and scuffled with Newby just before the shooting, witnesses said.
But none of the witnesses who testified Friday, including a handful of officers with Mattingly the night of the shooting, said they could see both Mattingly and Newby during the shooting. Mitch Gibson said he saw Mattingly raise his weapon and fire, but he said he could not see Newby from the car he was sitting in.
Mattingly’s attorneys have argued that Newby made a gesture that signaled to Mattingly that Newby was reaching for a weapon. Newby was carrying a .45-caliber handgun, some crack cocaine and marijuana the night of the shooting, police said.
Prosecutors said Mattingly never mentioned that Newby had a gun, and officers didn’t know Newby was armed until after he was shot.
Mattingly’s attorney, Steve Schroering, has argued that Newby grabbed Mattingly’s own gun while they struggled, causing Mattingly to fear for his life.
The shooting shocked Mattingly, witnesses said Friday.
Kyle Willet, a detective who worked undercover with Mattingly, said his partner was “pale-faced, somewhat distraught and wide-eyed” after the shooting.
Mattingly put his hands on top of his head and said, “Oh my god,” Mitch Gibson testified.
The trial is expected to last another week.