DEDHAM, MASS. (WHDH) - Jury deliberations are set to continue Friday in the trial of a man accused of killing a Weymouth police officer and an innocent bystander in 2018.
During final arguments Wednesday, prosecutors, gripping the gun they say accused killer Emanuel Lopes used to murder Weymouth police Sgt. Michael Chesna and Vera Adams, describe how Lopes first struck Chesna in the head.
“He takes this rock and he throws it, and where does it land? It lands on Sgt. Chesna’s head,” prosecutor Greg Connor told the jury in closing arguments.
With Chesna’s heartbroken family listening to the impassioned closing arguments, prosecutors told jurors how Lopes grabbed the officer’s gun and opened fire.
“He stood over Sgt. Chesna in a defensive posture and with two hands … he shot Sgt. Chesna eight times,” Connor said.
Lopes’s attorney painted a very different story of a man wrestling with mental illness for years.
“This case is not about sympathy for Mr. Lopes, it’s just about understanding what happened that day,” defense attorney Larry Tipton said. “It’s about conduct that was not logical, rational, or based in reality.”
After two and a half weeks of testimony including dozens of witnesses and piles of evidence, attorneys have put the case in the hands of the jury.
“Ladies and gentlemen, this man knows what he did. His life is forever changed. I ask that you find him not guilty by reason of insanity,” Tipton closed.
Lopes faces two life sentences if found guilty,
Deliberations are set to resume at 9:30 a.m.
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