KING COUNTY, Wash. — A witness to the police shooting of Jesse Sarey appeared on the stand on Thursday to testify in the murder trial of Officer Jeffrey Nelson.
Nelson faces second-degree murder and first-degree assault charges related to Sarey's death in May 2019. Nelson was attempting to arrest Sarey outside of an Auburn grocery store when he shot him once in the abdomen and a second time in the head after Sarey had already hit the ground.
Quincy Williams was at the Sunshine Grocery buying a pack of cigarettes that day, and he witnessed a "tussle" between Sarey and Nelson as he exited the store.
Williams said it appeared that Sarey and Nelson had their hands at each other's shirt collars and were pushing each other back and forth. Williams then saw Nelson push Sarey face-first into an ice machine, grab his firearm and shoot Sarey in what he described as the armpit area.
During direct examination, Williams said he hadn't seen anything to indicate that Sarey was a threat to Nelson. He did not see Sarey reach for Nelson's gun and did not see him holding a knife.
After the first shot, Williams saw Sarey fall to the ground. He said Nelson then looked around and shot Sarey a second time. Sarey's legs were in the air, and Williams said he saw Sarey's feet moving "violently" as the second shot made impact with his body.
"I'll never forget it," he said on the witness stand.
During the defense cross-examination, attorneys for Nelson focused their line of questioning on Williams' obstructed view of the altercation, noting that Nelson's back obscured Williams' view of what Sarey's hands were doing during parts of the scuffle.
There was one discrepancy in Williams' description of which point in the altercation he saw Sarey's legs in the air. In an interview with defense attorneys, Williams said it may have been after the second shot that he saw Sarey's feet. On the witness stand, he maintained that he saw Sarey's feet jerk as the second shot made impact.