Trial in Police Killing of Michael Newby Begins -- Shot 3 Times in the Back

• Louisville Police have Killed 7 Black Men in the last 5 Years
  

Nineteen-year-old Michael Newby was the seventh black man fatally shot by Louisville police in the last five years. The officer who shot him three times in the back is the first to face criminal charges. McKenzie Mattingly goes on trial for murder this week in a case that has sparked protests in Louisville. Many in the city's black community say holding a white police officer accountable for the killing of a black man is long overdue.Mattingly told prosecutors that he was "scared to death" when he shot Newby and believed that the 19-year-old was "trying to go for a weapon." Police say a .45-caliber gun was found in Newby's waistband after he was shot, but Mattingly told investigators he never saw the weapon before he fired.  Court documents confirm that Mattingly was wearing a wire but that his conversations were not being recorded.A wrongful death suit fied against Mattingly also alleges that Newby did not receive adequate medical attention and "died in the street with his hands handcuffed behind his back.[more ] and [more ] and [more ]

• Newby's death came just over a year after the December 2002 fatal shooting of 50-year-old James Taylor. Police shot Taylor 11 times in an apartment after he was handcuffed. Two white officers at the scene said Taylor, who was black, lunged at them with a boxcutter knife. After the officers were cleared of criminal charges by a grand jury, activists stepped up their protests, and Taylor's family filed a civil suit against one of the officers. [more ]