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WFAE's coverage of the case of Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Officer Randall Kerrick charged with voluntary manslaughter in the death of Jonathan Ferrell. The court case ended in a mistrial.

Ferrell Family Visits Site Of Killing On Anniversary

Two years ago, 24-year-old Jonathan Ferrell was shot and killed by Charlotte police officer Randall Kerrick. For the first time, Ferrell’s family went to the site to place a wreath in the ditch where Ferrell died along Reedy Creek Road in northeast Mecklenburg County.

Credit Gwendolyn Glenn/WFAE
Georgia Ferrell (left), mother of Jonathan Ferrell, brother, Willie Ferrell (right) and friends visit the site for the first time where Jonathan was killed two years ago.

It was a somber scene as Jonathan Ferrell’s family and friends walked along the sidewalk he used as he approached police that fatal night two years ago.

Ferrell’s brother Willie Ferrell shook his head and signed as he guided his mother Georgia to the ditch where his brother died, to lay a wreath and pray with family friends as they held hands. 

Credit Gwendolyn Glenn/WFAE
T-shirt worn by friend of the Ferrell family on second anniversary of his death. The 24-year-old African American died after being shot 10 times by a white police officer.

“Keep us strong and help us understand the fight is not over and justice will prevail,” Willie Ferrell said.

“We must have justice Jesus, and it’s not over until you say so,” Georgia Ferrell prayed.

The night Ferrell was killed police were dispatched to the scene after Jonathan Ferrell banged on the door of a homeowner, seeking help following his accident. She took him for a burglar and called 911. Kerrick was one of three officers who answered the call. He pointed his gun at Ferrell and another officer aimed a taser at him. Ferrell ran towards the officers and Kerrick shot him 10 times. Georgia Ferrell said being on the site of Ferrell’s death made her feel as if her son had been killed all over.

“When I walk out here I can see my child laying there, bleeding out, with his hands behind his back. I can feel his presence,” she said.

Credit Gwendolyn Glenn/WFAE
Jonathan Ferrell's family placed this wreath in the ditch where he died two years ago, after being shot 10 times by a Charlotte police officer.

Kerrick’s voluntary manslaughter trial, ended in a hung jury. Attorney General Roy Cooper opted not to retry Kerrick and dismissed the charge. Willie Ferrell says although they want Kerrick to pay for killing his brother, they have forgiven him and would like to talk to him.

“We’ve been praying for Officer Kerrick, for his family. I wrote a letter to try to contact him. We’ve been trying to do everything, but if somebody don’t want to talk to you, you can’t force yourself to talk to them,” Willie Ferrell said.

The Ferrell family, which is from Florida, says they plan to keep a presence in Charlotte to help the city heal. They plan to do that through the foundation they established in Ferrell’s name.

Gwendolyn is an award-winning journalist who has covered a broad range of stories on the local and national levels. Her experience includes producing on-air reports for National Public Radio and she worked full-time as a producer for NPR’s All Things Considered news program for five years. She worked for several years as an on-air contract reporter for CNN in Atlanta and worked in print as a reporter for the Baltimore Sun Media Group, The Washington Post and covered Congress and various federal agencies for the Daily Environment Report and Real Estate Finance Today. Glenn has won awards for her reports from the Maryland-DC-Delaware Press Association, SNA and the first-place radio award from the National Association of Black Journalists.