3 Detroit-area mall guards not guilty of involuntary manslaughter in man’s death in 2014

A jury swiftly acquitted three security guards of involuntary manslaughter Friday in the death of a man who was held to the floor at a Detroit-area mall in 2014, a case that was closed without charges years ago but reopened by state prosecutors.

The jury of eight women and four men heard closing arguments in the weeklong trial and returned with a verdict after approximately an hour.

McKenzie Cochran, a Black man with an enlarged heart, repeatedly said, “I can’t breathe,” while five guards restrained him at Northland Center. The confrontation followed a call from a jewelry shop owner who said Cochran told him that he wanted to kill someone.

The 10-minute struggle was recorded on dark, grainy mall video, as well as by onlookers. Cochran, 25, was eventually handcuffed and placed against a pillar while guards waited for police and paramedics. The cause of death was asphyxiation.