A former soldier convicted of manslaughter in a stunning case

Damon Grimes, 15, is a teenager who was illegally driving an ATV in a residential area of ​​Detroit in August 2017. State police officers followed in a patrol car to convince him of safety. Stop. When he did not immediately do so, the officer at the patrol car pbadenger's place took out his Taser and knocked Damon down.

The video footage of the episode showed the ATV shifting to the side of the road. The teenager crashed in the back of a parked truck and died shortly thereafter.

The agent who used the Taser, Mark Bessner, was suspended and resigned. The Michigan State Police has announced that it is changing its policy so that soldiers do not look for vehicles for minor offenses, such as traffic violations. Criminal proceedings were instituted against Bessner, but his first trial ended with a jury suspended in October.

The conviction for manslaughter could result in a maximum penalty of 15 years imprisonment; a sentencing hearing is scheduled for May 2nd. Bessner was also charged with second degree murder but was not convicted on that charge.

"The jury made a strong statement today about the criminal actions of the accused," said Kym Worthy, the Wayne County Attorney in Michigan, in a statement. "I want to thank this jury and I sincerely hope that this verdict will bring a semblance of peace to the Grimes family."

Michigan state police, who said Bessner "undoubtedly acted outside the politics and training of the MSP," said in another statement Wednesday that she appreciated the jury's deliberations and thanked the Wayne County attorneys. "We send our sincere condolences to the family, friends and supporters of Damon Grimes," he added.

The Detroit Free Press used Freedom of Information requests to dig up audio recordings and death footage. In this sequence, one could see Bessner talking to the police after the collision, while he was standing near the place where Damon was motionless in the street.

"He slowed down," said the soldier. "We killed him and he crashed." At that time, one could hear the agents checking his pulse and an ambulance was en route. But Damon was pronounced dead at the hospital.

The Free Press also reported that prior to the meeting with Damon, Bessner had been reprimanded for violating procedures and punished for misusing a Taser.

Prosecutions for murder and manslaughter officers are rare – even when they use lethal firearms or multiple shots – and convictions are even rarer. Prosecutors believe that the overwhelming majority of police shootings are legally justified given the circumstances, even though they seemed outrageous to the public.

Taser stun guns, which draw electrified beards instead of bullets, have become more popular over the past two decades as they are generally less deadly than firearms. But, as in the case of Bessner and some others, Tasers can be deadly and some police departments have a complicated history with weapons.

At his trial last year, Bessner had told the jurors that he had thought that Damon had been looking for a gun at his belt during the chase and that he had then been "shocked" with Learn that the teenager was not armed, reported the Associated Press. He described the death as "terrible tragedy".

A Bessner attorney did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Wednesday.

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.