Trial Against Louisville Police Officer who Killed Michael Newby Continues

Partner testifies in Mattingly trial.
Louisville Metro Police Detective Matthew Thomerson testified yesterday that he thought "very seriously" about shooting at Michael Newby after the teenager broke free from a struggle with another officer on Jan. 3 and began to run. Thomerson said that as Newby maneuvered between vehicles, away from him and his partner, former Detective McKenzie Mattingly, he repeatedly looked back, and at one point faced them "I could see his face," Thomerson told a Jefferson Circuit Court jury yesterday during the sixth day of Mattingly's trial on charges of murder and wanton endangerment in the fatal shooting of Newby, 19. "Once he turned and faced both of us," Thomerson said, Mattingly fired "within seconds." Asked by prosecutors why he did not shoot at Newby, Thomerson testified that he considered it, but "at no point did I see a weapon or see him make an aggressive movement other than when he was down on the ground and probably already been shot." Thomerson added, however, that he could only see Newby from his chest up and could not see his hands. [more ]

• Prosecution Rests In Murder Trial; Mattingly To Testify [more ]