MARKSVILLE, La. – A deputy city marshal charged with murder in the shooting of a 6-year-old boy is asking a Louisiana judge to throw out his indictment, saying he acted in self-defense by opening fire on a car driven by the boy's father.
A court filing by Derrick Stafford's attorneys says a police body camera video lacks audio for the first 27 seconds, making it impossible to determine if Stafford started shooting before or after Jeremy Mardis' father raised his hands inside the car.
Stafford's lawyers claim the father, Christopher Few, ignored officers' commands to stop and rammed into a vehicle that another deputy marshal, Norris Greenhouse Jr., was exiting.
Stafford and Greenhouse await separate trials on second-degree murder charges.
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