Detroit-Area Mall Guards Face Trial in Man’s Death More Than 10 Years Later

PONTIAC, Mich.—Four security guards are facing trial this week in the death of a man who was pinned to the ground during a fierce struggle more than 10 years ago at a suburban Detroit shopping mall. McKenzie Cochran, 25, was unarmed and repeatedly told guards, “I can’t breathe,” while face down, following a dispute at a jewelry store inside Northland Center in 2014, witnesses said. The Oakland County prosecutor at the time declined to file charges after consulting with the U.S. Justice Department. But Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel intervened in 2021 with involuntary manslaughter charges against four men. The case of Cochran, who was black, got fresh attention in 2020 during a local race for prosecutor and amid outrage over the death of George Floyd, a black man who was pinned to the ground by Minneapolis police. Prosecutors have not alleged race to be a factor in Cochran’s death....