Witness recalls man struggling to breathe before dying at guards’ hands in Michigan mall

PONTIAC, Mich. (AP) — A man held on the ground by security guards at a Detroit-area shopping mall repeatedly said, “I can’t breathe,” before the confrontation ended with his death, a witness testified Tuesday, more than 10 years later.

McKenzie Cochran, 25, was crying out at Northland Center in Southfield in 2014 as guards struggled to handcuff him and told him repeatedly to “stop resisting,” said Hoy Monk II, who worked at a Foot Locker store.

Three guards — John Seiberling, Gaven King and Aaron Maree — are charged with involuntary manslaughter.

Besides hearing from Monk on the second day of trial, jurors also saw a dark, grainy video of the confrontation as well as video recorded by onlookers.

It began when Cochran had refused to leave the mall, following tension with a jewelry store owner. A guard pepper-sprayed Cochran, who was subsequently wrestled to the ground.

The conflict escalated to include five guards who worked to restrain Cochran, despite him saying at least three times that he couldn’t breathe, Monk said.

By the time Cochran was handcuffed and moved upright, “I could see his face, and his eyes were closed,” Monk testified.

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Assistant Attorney General Robyn Liddell asked if the guards had yielded to Cochran’s pleas to get off him.

“No,” Monk replied.

Cochran, who had an enlarged heart, died.

One of the five guards pleaded guilty last week. Gary Chaffin, who was the senior guard and pepper sprayed Cochran, died in 2017.

Monk saw the confrontation while taking a break on a bench. During cross-examination, he agreed when a defense lawyer said fights, shoplifting and drug use were common in the mall at the time.

“You’re used to seeing peculiar things at Northland,” Monk said.

At the start of trial, defense attorneys urged jurors Monday to look at each guard individually. They said Cochran was seen as a volatile threat.

In 2014, the Oakland County prosecutor at the time declined to file charges, saying any mistakes didn’t rise to the level of a crime. But Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel stepped in with her own charges in 2021.

Northland was demolished that year to make way for redevelopment.

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