No charges to be filed in Northland mall death September 18, 2014
http://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/local/oakland-county/2014/09/18/northland-mall-death/15838793/
Pontiac — Mall security officers at Northland Center mall in Southfield who killed a Ferndale man in January while trying to restrain him will not face criminal charges.
"This is not an issue of whether these security guards were negligent," Oakland County Prosecutor Jessica Cooper said during a press conference Thursday. "It's whether they were criminally negligent."
Cooper appeared alongside Southfield Police Chief Eric Hawkins and reviewed evidence from the case, including security footage and witness cellphone video.
Cooper said there was no evidence the security guards intended to kill McKenzie Cochran when they forced him to the floor after attempting to remove him from the mall Jan. 28.
"The findings did not support that any officer tried to restrict his breathing by choking him." said Cooper. "There was no intent to harm. They didn't hit him. They didn't place him in a chokehold."
ANOTHER BLACK YOUTH, MCKENZIE COCHRAN, 25, DIES AFTER INCIDENT WITH NORTHLAND GUARDS
Feb. 4, 2014
http://voiceofdetroit.net/2014/02/05/another-black-youth-mckenzie-cochran-25-dies-after-incident-with-northland-guards/
SOUTHFIELD, MI — As depicted above in two videos, McKenzie Cochran, 25, a Black Ferndale resident, was likely murdered by white security guards at Southfield’s Northland Mall on Jan. 28. Pepper spray, combined with a guard’s knee on Cochran’s back as he cried out, “I can’t breathe,” and other restraints applied by multiple guards leave little room for speculation.
This is despite the callous reaction of Northland Mall management shown in the second video, and caveats from the notorious Oakland County Medical Examiner and Prosecutor’s offices that their investigation of Cochran’s death will likely take a long time.
VOD will be contacting Southfield mayor Brenda Lawrence, who is currently running for State Representative, regarding her plans for a response to this latest death, as part of an upcoming story on the killings and beatings of African-Americans at the hands of a predominantly white Southfield police force over the recent period. Those killings are being exposed by the group “We the People for the People.”
Detroiters have seen the tactics employed in Cochran’s death before, when Kalvin Porter, a 34-year-old electrician and father of six, died in 1999, protecting the honor of his young daughter. Gas station attendants Fadhel Mazeb, 46, and Adel Altam, 26, at Gratiot and Mack sat on top of him and cut off his ability to breathe. Five of his children watched as he died. The attendants in Porter’s case walked after Wayne County Circuit Court Judge Maggie Drake dismissed charges against one and a jury acquitted the second.
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