BOSTON (WHDH) - The Boston police officer charged in a deadly shooting while on the job earlier this year appeared in court Thursday as part of the case that has divided police and prosecutors.
Nicholas O’Malley was recently indicted by a grand jury for manslaughter; now his case heads to Superior Court.
He pleaded not guilty in a lower court in March, when dozens of his fellow officers were present in support.
Prosecutors say O’Malley was wrong to shoot and kill a man suspected of a carjacking in Roxbury.
They said his story about being in fear for officers’ safety doesn’t add up to what the body camera video shows.
Stephenson King, Jr., 39, was killed in the shooting.
His family said he was struggling with mental health issues but wasn’t violent; they hired well known civil rights attorney Ben Crump, who is calling for the body camera video to be released.
Police said King carjacked a woman and forced her from her vehicle, then his a police cruiser while trying to get away.
Attorney David Yannetti, who also represented Karen Read, is representing O’Malley. He said O’Malley is a good police offier wiht a good record of service.
O’Malley has been off the job since the incident.
The King family viewed the body camera video shortly after O’Malley was indicted.
O’Malley has been released on his own recognizance.
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