10 years after man’s death in Detroit-area mall, jury selection starts for 3 security guards

Associated Press

PONTIAC, Mich. (AP) — Jury selection has begun in the trial of three security guards more than 10 years after the death of a man who was pinned to the ground during a struggle at a suburban Detroit shopping mall. The process began Monday in the trial over the 2014 death of 25-year-old McKenzie Cochran at Northland Center. Defense lawyers have argued self-defense. Witnesses say Cochran repeatedly told the guards, “I can’t breathe.” The local prosecutor at the time declined to file charges after consulting with experts. But Michigan’s attorney general intervened in 2021 with involuntary manslaughter charges against four men. One pleaded guilty Friday.