Jury Chosen For Trial Of Former Milwaukee Officer Charged In Fatal Shooting

A jury has been selected in the trial of a former Milwaukee police officer whose fatal shooting of a black man last year ignited riots in the city’s predominantly black neighborhood of Sherman Park.

Dominique Heaggan-Brown is charged with first-degree reckless homicide in the death of Sylville Smith after Smith fled a traffic stop Aug. 13. Attorneys are set to deliver their opening statements Tuesday afternoon.

Smith was holding a gun and facing Heaggan-Brown when the black officer shot him in the arm. But prosecutors say Smith was unarmed when Heaggan-Brown fired the into his chest seconds later, killing him.

Heaggan-Brown faces up to 60 years in prison if convicted. He was fired in October after being charged with sexual assault in an unrelated case.