A jury is picked in trial of 3 Detroit-area guards charged with man’s death at mall 10 years ago

Associated Press

PONTIAC, Mich. (AP) — A jury has been seated in the trial of three security guards more than 10 years after the death of a man who was pinned to the ground at a suburban Detroit shopping mall. Witnesses say McKenzie Cochran repeatedly told the guards, “I can’t breathe.” In 2014, the local prosecutor declined to file charges after consulting with experts. But Michigan’s attorney general intervened in 2021 with involuntary manslaughter charges against four men. Defense lawyers say the guards acted in self-defense. One of the guards pleaded guilty Friday.