A Black prosecutor said the evidence doesn’t support opposing counsel’s claim that a white Georgia police officer was “scared to death” when he shot and killed a naked Anthony Hill four years ago.
Robert “Chip” Olsen, 57, is accused of murdering Hill when he fired two deadly shots at the 26-year-old Air Force veteran March 9, 2015, according to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Apartment resident Miguel Medina testified Friday that after Olsen fired the shots, he cried out, “Oh my God, what have I done?”
Olsen’s trial started Thursday in the Atlanta suburb of DeKalb County with opening statements.
DeKalb County prosecutor Buffy Thomas said Olsen was just uncomfortable with Hill’s nudity when he shot the man, according to the AJC.
Olson never told GBI investigators that Hill, “unarmed, unclothed and unable to harm,” posed a threat, Thomas said of the encounter outside of Heights of Chamblee apartments.
“He was unreasonable. And unjustified,” Thomas said.
Olsen was responding to a domestic disturbance call when he found Hill roaming around the community and exhibiting “odd” behavior, according to earlier reports.
The prosecutor accused Olsen of not seeing Hill as a person yet noticing his “bulging quadriceps muscles.”
Olsen never mentions Hill’s name, Thomas said, according to the AJC.
“He never even refers to him as a human being,” she added of the officer.
Related: Georgia Judge Denies Motion to Drop Charges Against Cop Who Shot, Killed Anthony Hill
Hill’s family said he suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder and was likely having a manic episode at the time.
When the man was told to stop advancing, Olsen said Hill lunged toward him, prompting him to fire twice at the veteran.
The officer’s trial continued Friday with testimony from maintenance worker Pedro Castillo Flores, an eyewitness to the fatal shooting.
He testified that he believed Hill was going to attack Olsen, the AJC reported.
“Did the officer have to shoot Anthony to stop him?” prosecutor Pete Johnson asked.
“Yes,” Castillo Flores said. “He was running towards him.”
Medina, however, testified that Hill slowed his run.
Hill was running “like a disoriented person — not like he was drunk, not like he was OK either,” Medina said, according to the AJC. “He was running a little bit fast, not real fast, but not real slow.”
Testimony in the trial is set to resume Tuesday due to the court’s closure on on Rosh Hashanah Monday, according to WSB Radio.
