By Jerry Mitchell and Claudia Amendoeira | Originally published by Mississippi Today
Two Capitol Police officers who shot a 25-year-old Jackson man said in recorded statements played Thursday for a jury that they had no choice but to kill him in self-defense.
Steven Frederick Jr. and Michael Lamar Rhinewalt told investigators that on Sept. 25, 2022, they stopped a Jeep Grand Cherokee that matched the general description of a car suspected in auto burglaries after the vehicle ran two red lights.
After their unmarked police car boxed in the Cherokee driven by Jaylen Lewis, he rammed the police vehicle behind him and then gunned the Cherokee to flee, Rhinewalt said. “I felt like he was going to run us over.”
As a result, Rhinewalt fired two bullets into the front of the windshield, he said. “I was in fear of my life and in fear of the life of my fellow officer.”
Jurors heard the recordings on the second day of the manslaughter trial of Frederick and Rhinewalt, who are both white. They were part of the crime suppression Flex Unit of the Capitol Police involved in the death of the Black man.
The jury could begin deliberations as soon as Friday.
Rhinewalt said they asked Lewis to “show his hands,” but he didn’t. “We could see he wasn’t showing hands.”
He speculated that Lewis was holding a gun, and it fell out of his hand after he was shot. “His right hand was lying next to the gun,” Rhinewalt said.
Frederick said he stepped to the right of the Cherokee and fired two shots that apparently hit the driver’s side window.
Frederick became emotional. “He’s got kids like I do,” he said. “He’s got parents like I do.”
During the interview, Rhinewalt suggested the two Glocks and AR-15 in the Cherokee were stolen, but Capt. Dennis Weaver of the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation testified that authorities found no evidence the guns were stolen.
Asked by defense lawyers if he knew of any evidence that contradicted the officers’ description of the events leading up to the death, Weaver said no.
Although authorities found bags of marijuana in the Cherokee, toxicology reports by the Mississippi Crime Lab found no evidence that Lewis had any drugs in his system, Deputy Medical Examiner Dr. Ariane Andorfer testified Thursday.
She told jurors that Lewis’ death was a homicide and that he was killed by a bullet that struck the top of his head.
“Your conclusion was that this is a homicide, not whether it was justifiable or not, is that right?” Rhinewalt’s lawyer, J. Scott Gilbert, asked her.
“That’s right,” she replied.
Selena Hayes, a passenger with Jaylen Lewis, testifies Thursday, Sept. 24, 2026, in Hinds County Circuit Court, responding to questions from Special Assistant Attorney General Luke Williamson. Credit: Jerry Mitchell/Mississippi Today
Selena Hayes testified she was with Lewis that night when a car pulled in front of them. She said all she saw was a bright light and a white man with hair holding a gun.
In a recorded interview that night, she told investigators, “We looked up and Jaylen said, ‘S—.’”
She testified that Lewis backed into a car behind them that she didn’t know was there and then Lewis tried to drive away.
She told investigators that night that her reaction was “Oh, my God, what’s going on? Stop.”
Asked if she saw Lewis with a gun in his hand, she said no.
After gunfire rang out, she ducked, she said. “My head was down and when I looked up, I saw Jaylen.”
“What was his condition?” Special Assistant Attorney General Luke Williamson asked.
“He had a gunshot wound,” she replied.
Asked when she first realized that law enforcement officers were in front of them, she replied, “I didn’t know they were police until I got out of the car.”
Under cross-examination, Frederick’s lawyer, Merrida Coxwell Jr., stood in front of Hayes and asked her to estimate how far away the man in front of the car was. When he stepped back to about 10 feet, she agreed that was an estimate of the distance.
He asked her if she saw the officers’ reflective gear that bore the word, “Police.” She replied no.
He asked her if she saw blue lights that night. She replied no.
Coxwell quoted from her interview with investigators, where she was asked if she saw the blue lights and she replied, “When we stopped.”
Asked about this apparent contradiction, she responded that by that point she knew the car in front of her was a police car but that she didn’t know that at the time.
Williamson asked her if she told investigators that Lewis “didn’t try to run over anybody. He tried to get away.”
She replied yes. “Anybody should try to get away when they see a gun.”
