Jeffrey Nelson Verdict | Cop Shoots Suspect in the Head During Routine Arrest • SENTENCES

AUBURN, Wash. - An Auburn police officer was found guilty of unnecessarily using deadly force when he shot and killed a man outside a convenience store in 2019.

The jury found Jeffrey Nelson guilty of second-degree murder and first-degree assault.

Auburn Police Officer Nelson shot Jesse Sarey twice while attempting to arrest him for disorderly conduct. Sarey, 26, was the third person Nelson had killed on duty in the past eight years.

Nelson's attorney, Emma Scanlan, told jurors during her opening statement that he believed — mistakenly — that Sarey had grabbed a folding knife from the officer's pocket. Instead, the knife had fallen on the ground and been picked up by a witness.

Every day for the last five years, Nelson has wished that he knew the knife was not in play as he grappled with Sarey: "We wouldn’t be here if he had," she said.

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