This excerpt is from Ms. Georgia Parr's statement taken by Detective Ismael Campa on the day of the shooting, 2-2-99. Her testimony explains why Johnny was carrying a knife when he was shot, and contradicts Officer Farris' statement that Cornell "rushed" him. As this unedited excerpt begins, Ms. Parr has just related how her son Johnny, a 31-year old with severe mental and physical impairments, had set their car on fire playing with fireworks in the back seat. The EMS had been called, the police were on their way, and the passenger in the car advised Johnny to leave because he might get in trouble with the police.

"Johnny then started walking toward the garage. I started walking with him, trying to talk to him. Johnny told me that he was going to be on his own. Johnny then reached in his blue light-weight jacket and gave me a knife that he had in his jacket. The knife was on the inside of the jacket like in a hole that he used as a pocket. The knife was an old butcher knife about 10-12 inches with the handle part. The knife had a dull silver type blade. When Johnny gave me the knife, I took the knife and I threw it into the wooded area. Right after I threw the knife, Johnny went and picked up the knife. At about the same time, the police showed up. Johnny picked up the knife and the knife was laying across his hand. Johnny doesn't have a thumb, so he'd picked up the knife and laid it across his hand. The policeman got out of his car with his gun in his hand. The policeman then pointed the gun at me. The man from the convenience store told the policeman 'No, No, No...' Then the police man told me 'Get the hell out of the way.' The policeman then turned and started shooting Johnny. Johnny fell on the first shot and the policeman kept shooting. He ended up shooting 3 or 4 times. He just shot Johnny down like a mad dog. Detective Campa asked me about the distance from where the officer was. It was maybe 17 to 20 feet, approximately. I don't remember the policeman saying anything but 'Get the hell out of the way."