A former officer in an Arkansas sheriff’s office was found guilty on Friday of negligent homicide in the shooting death of a local teenager.
Former deputy Michael Davis was found guilty of shooting and killing Hunter Brittain, 17, during a traffic stop in Cabot, just outside of Little Rock last year. He was acquitted of a manslaughter charge, The Associated Press reported.
Davis was fired by the Lonoke County sheriff after he failed to turn on his body camera during the shooting. Footage from Davis’s body camera, which was revealed during his trial, only captured what occurred in the moments following the shooting, according to the AP.
The shooting occurred outside of an auto repair shop where Brittain was attempting to work on his car’s transmission. Davis reportedly told investigators that he fired his gun at the teen, hitting him once in the neck after he failed to heed his commands to place his hands in view.
A witness during the trial testified that Davis never told Brittain to show his hands before he fired his weapon.
Brittain’s death drew outrage from activists and civil rights leaders, the news outlet noted.
Davis faces up to one year in prison over the negligent homicide charge, which is considered a misdemeanor. If he had been convicted of manslaughter, he could have spent between three to 10 years behind bars, the AP reported.