LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) — A federal jury found Friday that Elizabethtown Police Officer Detrick Cooper did not use excessive force when he shot and killed Christopher Sterusky after a confrontation in an apartment complex parking lot in 2021.
The verdict came after a civil rights trial this week brought by Sterusky's family, who argued Cooper violated the 28-year-old's constitutional rights by using deadly force.The trial took place at the federal courthouse in Louisville.
"You got to keep in mind these are rapidly evolving, tense, uncertain situations that these officers are placed in," Cooper's attorney, L. Scott Miller Miller said. "And they have to make split second decisions to defend their life."
The shooting happened Dec. 11, 2021, at the Lakecrest Apartments in Elizabethtown.
According to court records and the Kentucky State Police investigation, Cooper approached Sterusky's car in the parking lot after noticing it had a decal where the rear license plate should have been. Sterusky, who was living in his car at the time, was asleep inside the vehicle.
Body cam footage showed Sterusky gave Cooper a fake name and claimed he didn't have a birthdate. He repeatedly asked to leave, but Cooper continued questioning him because Sterusky did not provide a driver's license or vehicle registration.
"I'm not trying to cause no trouble," Sterusky told Cooper.
When Sterusky tried to get back into the car, a struggle broke out between the two. Cooper's body camera detached during the confrontation, so it only captured the audio leading up to and at the moment Cooper shot.
During interviews with KSP investigators, Cooper said Sterusky stabbed him twice in the chest, leaving him no choice but to use deadly force.
"I had to make a decision to stop him at that time," Cooper told investigators after the shooting.
Investigators said Cooper fired 17 rounds, eight of which hit Sterusky killing him.Â
Sterusky's family questioned Coopers version of the shooting and the conclusions reached by investigators.
They argued the evidence did not support Cooper's claim that deadly force was necessary. Despite two small cuts in the shirt to the officer's uniform, the family pointed to investigative records showing the knife recovered from Sterusky's car was found under debris with no blood on its handle.
"I was a combat soldier, and this didn't justify the use of deadly force," said Chris Scott Sterusky, Sterusky's father in a 2022 interview with WDRB News. "You could never convince me deadly force was necessary in this."
The family filed its civil suit shortly after a Hardin County grandy jury declined to indict the officer on criminal charges. After hearing testimony and reviewing evidence during this week's trial, the federal jury in the civil case reached the same conclusion.
"I think at the end of the day they (the jury) looked at the facts of the case and the training and they came away agreeing with us that officer cooper did not use excessive force," Miller said.Â
The Sterusky family's attorney, Sam Aguiar, said in a statement he is "disappointed in the verdict" but respects the trial system and the decision the jury made.
"For the past five years, it has been an honor to stand with the Sterusky family," he said. "We remain grateful for their trust and proud of the way they faced this difficult process."
Cooper remains employed by the Elizabethtown Police Department.
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