Trial opens against 3 Detroit-area guards charged with man’s death at mall 10 years ago

Associated Press

PONTIAC, Mich. (AP) — Jurors have heard opening statements in the trial of three security guards more than 10 years after the death of a man at a suburban Detroit shopping mall. A prosecutor says McKenzie Cochran repeatedly told the guards, “I can’t breathe” during an intense physical struggle that caused his death. In 2014, the Oakland County prosecutor declined to file charges after consulting with experts. But Michigan’s attorney general returned in 2021 with involuntary manslaughter charges against four men. One pleaded guilty Friday. Defense lawyers say the guards were dealing with an aggressive, unruly man and committed no crime.