Marksville, Louisiana Deputy Derrick Stafford has been charged with manslaughter and attempted manslaughter for killing a six-year-old autistic child and badly injuring his father in a shoot out. According to the Associated Press, the incident happened on November 3, 2015 after a high-speed car chase. During testimony, Stafford said he opened fire on the vehicle because he believed Christopher Few, the driver, would reverse and run over his colleague, who had jumped out of the police car. He said he had no idea Few’s son, Jeremy Mardis, was inside the vehicle.

Of the 14 bullets shot by Stafford at the car, four hit the autistic boy, killing him within minutes. The father was critically wounded, but survived the incident.

Louisiana cop clearly emotional

According to Stafford, he had no idea the child was in the car when he unleashed 14 bullets into it, killing the young child. He also failed to notice that Few, the suspect driving the car, had his hands up in surrender.

Stafford told jurors at the trial that he would definitely not have fired his weapon if he knew a child was inside the car, saying he would have immediately stopped the chase. However, when the shooting happened, Stafford said he felt he had no choice, as he believed his fellow deputy was in danger.

Few had his hands up in surrender before the shooting began

However, it turns out footage captured by Greenhouse’s body camera clearly showed Few raising his hands in surrender before the cops shot at the vehicle. Greenhouse, 25, will be facing his own trial later this year for the four shots he put into Few's vehicle during the shooting incident.

According to the New York Daily News, Few said in his testimony that the deputies had given him no audible warnings before they started shooting at his car.

Few only learned of his autistic son’s fate when he woke from a coma in hospital six days later. He added that he wasn’t trying to escape from the police officers, but merely wanted to get his son to his girlfriend’s house, just in case he was arrested. When asked if he regretted not simply pulling over when he saw the police car following, Few said he definitely regrets it, every single day.
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