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Officer found guilty of killing teen at Chesterfield car wash

Posted at 1:42 PM, Feb 09, 2017
and last updated 2017-02-10 09:15:47-05

CHESTERFIELD COUNTY, Va. – A Chesterfield jury found Richmond Police OfficerDavid Cobb guilty of voluntary manslaughter in the 2015 shooting death of 18-year-old Paterson Brown Jr. Cobb had faced a second-degree murder charge.

He was found not guilty of using or displaying a firearm in a threatening way to commit murder.

The jury, which reached its verdict on the second day of deliberations Thursday, recommended Cobb spend three months in jail and pay a $1,000 fine.

The judge will formally sentence Cobb at a later date.

Richmond Police Chief Alfred Durham released a statement Thursday after Officer Cobb’s conviction:

"Members of the Richmond Police family were saddened today to hear of the manslaughter conviction of Officer David Cobb. The judicial system has taken its course and we will respect the outcome.

The Department will now begin an internal, administrative investigation into the incident. Officer Cobb remains on administrative leave status.”

David Cobb (PHOTO: Chesterfield Police)

David Cobb (PHOTO: Chesterfield Police)

Cobb shot and killed Brown at a car wash by the Sunoco gas station off Midlothian Turnpike in Chesterfield on October 17, 2015. Cobb had driven his girlfriend's car to get it washed that day.

Police said Brown entered Cobb's the car, and that's when a confrontation ensued.

Cobb admitted to shooting the teenager, but only because he thought Brown had a weapon and was a threat to himself and others. Brown was unarmed.

Cobb's first trial ended in a mistrial after the jury could not return a unanimous verdict on the second-degree murder charge.

The nine-year veteran was off-duty at the time of the shooting.

Experts say the case boiled down to whether or not Cobb was acting in self-defense when he shot and killed Brown.

Wednesday, day three of the trial, Cobb’s defense attorney presented several simulations explaining how he may have reacted based on his police training rather than out of malice.

The jurors watched four different scenarios showing how police officers respond in making split second decisions.

A retired Richmond police officer went through those scenarios that at times became hard to watch because of their graphic nature.

The jurors then heard from David Cobb's girlfriend, a 911 dispatcher.

Tabitha Roane testified that she received a phone call from Cobb while she was at the hair salon the day of the shooting.

Roane told the jury Cobb put her on speaker phone as she listened to him give repeated commands to Paterson Brown Jr. to "stop moving, show your hands, stop moving."

Paterson Brown Jr.

Paterson Brown Jr.

When Roane took him off speaker and called back, she said Cobb was in tears and told her he shot someone.

In closing arguments, prosecutors said Brown did nothing wrong, he just got in the wrong car.

They told the jury that Cobb didn't investigate and shot an unarmed man.

The defense argued Cobb shot Brown in self-defense when he thought the teenager had a gun and was not responding to his commands.

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