Defense in case of Chicago officer who killed Laquan McDonald claims only one of the 15 shots fired mattered
The defense in the trial of Chicago Police Officer Jason Van Dyke, who shot Laquan McDonald 16 times, minimized the hail of bullets that took the teen's life.
Earlier this week, the defense their line of questioning in the trial of Chicago Police Officer Jason Van Dyke, the cop who shot Laquan McDonald 16 times in October 2014 and already the information coming forth is shocking. A witness attempted to minimize the hail of bullets that took the teen’s life.
Van Dyke faces six counts of first-degree murder, 16 counts of aggravated battery with a firearm and one count of official misconduct.
Dr. Shaku Teas, a forensic pathologist, claimed, according to the Chicago Sun-Times, that the shot that tore through McDonald’s heart was the fatal shot while the other 15 that riddle his body were “totally immaterial.”
“It is my opinion that this is the one that caused Laquan to die so rapidly,” Teas said. Her testimony sought to establish that only the first few shots killed McDonald, while the others should essentially not be taken into consideration.
Last week, Cook County Medical Examiner Ponni Arunkumar testified for the prosecution that each of the 16 wounds McDonald suffered contributed to the blood loss that killed him. Teas also claimed that McDonald was in the “process of dying” at the scene, even though he was still breathing and had a pulse when paramedics arrived.
The defense also went to work attempting to portray Laquan McDonald as a danger to society by brining in three juvenile jail guards who described confrontations with McDonald during the times the teen with the most recent incident coming nearly a year before he was killed. The guards also claimed that in one of the confrontations that McDonald said he was on PCP.
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The testimony is intended to bolster Van Dyke’s claims he shot McDonald in self-defense, despite video clearly showing an unarmed McDonald running away from Van Dyke.
If convicted, Van Dyke faces life in prison for McDonald’s killing.
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