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The trial of former JPD officers charged in the killing of a man has been postponed again

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The trial of two former Jackson Police Department officers accused of killing a man more than a year ago has been postponed again.

On December 31, 2022, three JPD officers reportedly repeatedly verbally abused 41-year-old Keith Murriel in the parking lot of a long-stay hotel. Previous reports from the Clarion Ledger said officers used a stun gun on Murriel at least 26 times within 10 minutes. Murriel died in police custody on December 31, 2022, New Year's Eve.

The former officers were Kenya McCarty, Avery Willis and James Land. Details emerged from hours of unedited body camera footage from the three officers released by the city of Jackson. The video footage has been fully verified by the Clarion Ledger.

On Tuesday, Hinds County District Judge Winston Kidd granted a motion to continue the trial and set a hearing date for McCarty as the defense said it was waiting for the prosecution to release investigative materials that the defense could use in its case .

McCarty is charged with second-degree murder in connection with the case.

“The defendant is still awaiting access to evidence that is crucial to her defense in this matter. Therefore, it is impossible for her to receive a fair trial during the current trial on November 4,” McCarty’s motion states in court records. “Unless the defendant is given access to this information, she will not be able to adequately defend herself at trial in this matter. This motion does not constitute an attempt to delay the trial of these charges.”

Kidd also postponed the trial of former officer James Land because Land's attorney said they also didn't have all of the state's discovery materials.

Get quick details on: What we know about Keith Murriel's death is that the former Jackson police officer is facing murder charges

Land was charged with manslaughter, and a Hinds County grand jury found Land guilty in Murriel's death.

Kidd said the court would continue both matters at a later date.

Both McCarty and Land were scheduled to be in court on March 4. Their trial date was then postponed to November 4th, which is now subject to change. No new trial date was announced in the courtroom.

Willis, one of the former officers, is charged with second-degree murder for his alleged role in Murriel's death. Willis is scheduled to appear in court on November 4th.

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What happened the night Keith Murriel died?

A previous Clarion-Ledger report said McCarty was the first officer to arrive at the scene on Dec. 31, 2022, at approximately 8:45 p.m. At times in the video you could hear her saying that she had to work on New Year's Eve. McCarty responded to a call from the hotel's security guard, who said in the videos that Murriel was loitering in the parking lot and not responding to questions or requests to leave.

Using a string of profanities, McCarty repeatedly asked Murriel to leave the parking lot, which he eventually did after she accompanied him to the adjacent Waffle House parking lot. But the confrontation didn't end there.

When Officer Willis arrived around 8:55 p.m., the security guard said Murriel was seen on the property again. Willis and McCarty then discussed what they would do if they saw him on the property again.

“I can’t be treated that disrespected that often,” McCarty said.

“He comes back when we leave, which is fine because then I can just touch him,” Willis said later.

In a video that began at 8:57 p.m., a physical altercation quickly broke out between the two officers and Murriel, who had not yet said anything intelligible on video. In the first 10 minutes of video captured by Willis' body camera, Murriel was verbally abused at least 26 times. At around 9 p.m. one of the officers called for backup. Officer Land arrived around 9:05 p.m.

Once Land arrives, Murriel is insulted 13 more times in less than three minutes.

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The city of Jackson released 10 videos from the three different body cameras. Because these videos overlap, it is difficult to say how many times Murriel was stunned in total.

Over the next few minutes, Murriel was repeatedly verbally abused as officers yelled at him to put his hand behind his back so they could place his other wrist in the handcuffs. The only thing Murriel said other than screaming unintelligibly was “Man, stop.” He said it over and over again.

In a video captured by McCarty's body camera, Murriel looked up at her at one point and gave him a rare direct look at his face. Murriel begged McCarty to stop.

After further stunning with stun guns, officers finally managed to load Murriel into the back seat of a patrol car, but his legs blocked the door, preventing it from closing. After they instructed him to move his legs and he did not respond, Murriel was verbally abused again.

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At this point, at approximately 9:10 p.m., McCarty received a message from dispatch. The dispatcher told McCarty that a citizen called police out of concern after seeing Murriel being tasered “four times” but not hearing anyone call an ambulance. The ambulance didn't arrive until 10:10 p.m., almost an hour later.

No one from law enforcement, including the sergeant, was shown Murriel's condition during video surveillance. When paramedics examined him, they found he was no longer breathing. Murriel was taken by American Medical Response to St. Dominic's Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

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