JUSTICE SERVED

Jury Convicts Cop Who Killed Unarmed Arkansas Teen Taking Truck for a Test-Drive

Sgt. Michael Davis was convicted of negligent homicide.

A jury in Arkansas has found Lonoke County Sheriff’s Sgt. Michael Davis not guilty of manslaughter but guilty of negligent homicide in the death of 17-year-old Hunter Brittain. He was sentenced to one year in jail, according to the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. Davis was charged in September after he shot and killed Brittain, who was test-driving a pick-up truck that he’d been tinkering on with a cousin. Davis claimed that, just after he pulled him over, Brittain ran to the bed of the truck to retrieve something, ignoring warnings to raise his hands as the truck slowly rolled backward. Davis then shot him, only to realize an unarmed Brittain reached for a jug of antifreeze for the smoking truck. The cousin claimed Brittain already had the jug in his hand when he hopped out of the truck, and Davis never gave any commands before firing. The case drew widespread attention from civil rights activists, including Rev. Al Sharpton, who questioned whether justice was swiftly served to a police officer because the victim was white.