Two Capitol Police officers who shot a 25-year-old Jackson man said in recorded statements played Thursday for a jury that they had no choice but to kill him in self-defense.
Steven Frederick Jr. and Michael Lamar Rhinewalt told investigators that on Sept. 25, 2022, they stopped a Jeep Grand Cherokee that matched the general description of a car suspected in auto burglaries after the Cherokee ran two red lights.
After their unmarked police car boxed in the Cherokee driven by Jaylen Lewis, he rammed the police vehicle behind him and then gunned the Cherokee to flee, Rhinewalt said. “I felt like he was going to run us over.”
As a result, Rhinewalt fired two bullets into the front of the windshield, he said. “I was in fear of my life and in fear of the life of my fellow officer.”
Jurors heard the recordings on the second day of the manslaughter trial of Frederick and Rhinewalt, who are both white. They were part of the crime suppression Flex Unit of the Capitol Police involved in the death of the Black man.
The officers said they asked Lewis to “show his hands,” but he didn’t. “We could see he wasn’t showing hands,” Rhinewalt said.
He speculated that Lewis was holding a gun, and it fell out of his hand after he was shot. “His right hand was lying next to the gun,” Rhinewalt said.
Frederick said he stepped to the right of the Cherokee and fired two shots that apparently hit the driver’s side window.
Frederick became emotional. “He’s got kids like I do,” he said. “He’s got parents like I do.”
During the interview, Rhinewalt suggested the two Glocks and AR-15 in the Cherokee were stolen, but Capt. Dennis Weaver of the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation testified that authorities found no evidence the guns were stolen.
Asked by defense lawyers if he knew of any evidence that contradicted the officers’ description of the events leading up to the death, Weaver said no.
Although authorities found bags of marijuana in the Cherokee, toxicology reports by the Mississippi Crime Lab found no evidence that Lewis had any drugs in his system, Deputy Medical Examiner Dr. Ariane Andorfer testified Thursday.
She told jurors that Lewis’ death was a homicide and that he was killed by a bullet that struck the top of his head.
“Your conclusion was that this is a homicide, not whether it was justifiable or not, is that right?” Rhinewalt’s lawyer, J. Scott Gilbert, asked her.
“That’s right,” she replied.
This is a developing story.
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