Security guard receives no additional prison time after death of man in Detroit shopping center

DETROIT — A judge on Thursday imposed no additional prison time for a security guard for his role in the death of a man who repeatedly said, “I can’t breathe” as he was pinned to the ground at a Detroit-area mall in 2014.

Lucius Hamilton was one of four guards charged years later in the death of McKenzie Cochran, who had an enlarged heart, but the only one convicted.

Hamilton, 61, pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter on the eve of the trial, while the others were quickly acquitted by an Oakland County jury on August 23.

Judge Martha Anderson sentenced Hamilton, 61, to two days in jail, credit for time served, online records show. It was a major breakthrough: the judge had indicated in August that a 90-day prison sentence was likely, but that was before the trial and acquittal of other guards.

Lawyer Mohammed Nasser had asked for 90 days of house arrest in a lawsuit earlier this week. He told The Associated Press that he believes the judge was influenced by Hamilton’s remorse and his “desire to resolve this matter.”

“The judge had the opportunity to hear the factual scenario of what happened during the trial,” Nasser said after the hearing. “Do I think justice has been served? Absolute.”

Emails seeking comment from prosecutors were not immediately returned.

Security guards at the Northland Center were called to confront 25-year-old Cochran after he made threatening comments to a jewelry store owner. The encounter started with two guards and the use of pepper spray, but grew to five guards when they tried to handcuff him.

Defense attorneys argued that the security guards were protecting themselves and store patrons by trying to control Cochran. The cause of death was asphyxiation.

An expert who testified for the defense during the trial said Cochran could have been handcuffed in just 30 seconds if he had not resisted.

In 2014, the local prosecutor declined to file charges in the case of Cochran, who was black. But Michigan’s attorney general reopened the case in 2020 after the high-profile death of George Floyd, a Black man who was pinned to the ground by Minneapolis police. Prosecutors did not allege race was a factor in Cochran’s death.

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