By Dylan T. Lovan, The Associated Press
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) - An undercover drug buy turned deadly because of a detective’s “fatal” choices, prosecutors said during opening statements in the officer’s murder trial.
McKenzie Mattingly, a white former narcotics detective, shot a 19-year-old black man after the Jan. 3 drug buy went awry, prosecutors say.
“This is a very simple case. It is a simple case about three bullets in a young man’s back,” Commonwealth’s Attorney Robert Bonar said Thursday. “It’s about the decision this man made before, during and after he shot Michael Newby three times in the back.”
Newby was the seventh black man killed by Louisville police since 1998. The shooting prompted protests of a police department already facing criticism from previous shootings. Mattingly was the first Louisville officer to be criminally charged in any of the shootings.
Mattingly was indicted for murder and wanton endangerment in March and fired a month later.
Mattingly’s attorney says the officer was defending his life in the parking lot of a western Louisville liquor store.
Prosecutors say Mattingly first encountered Newby at the liquor store parking lot while waiting for a drug dealer undercover officers had contacted. Newby, who was with two other men and a juvenile, persuaded Mattingly to buy drugs from him, Bonar said. During the deal, one of the men took cash from Mattingly’s hand and ran away.
Bonar said Mattingly then got out of his vehicle and spotted Newby bending over to pick up a $20 bill on the ground. They struggled, and Mattingly’s gun fired a shot, he said. Bonar said that’s when the “last fatal mistake” was made.
“He levels his Glock and fires four shots” at Newby’s back, Bonar said.
Court records said Newby was carrying a .45-caliber handgun, some crack cocaine and marijuana the night of the shooting.
Defense attorney Steve Schroering said his client was in a “fight for his life.” After the drug buy went sour, Mattingly and Newby struggled, and Newby grabbed Mattingly’s pistol and it fired, Schroering said. The two men separated, and Newby fled.
Schroering said as Newby was fleeing, he made a gesture that signaled he was reaching for a weapon. “At that instant in time, (Mattingly) had to make a decision - live or die right now,” Schroering said.
A witness working at the liquor store testified Thursday that he saw Mattingly shoot Newby. Greg Hill said he saw the struggle from the window of his store.
“As soon as he ran away, I saw the detective raise his weapon and fire,” Hill said.