FILE - This file booking photo provided by the Parker County Sheriff's Office in Weatherford, Texas, shows Roy Oliver. The murder trial is set to begi...
FILE - This file booking photo provided by the Parker County Sheriff's Office in Weatherford, Texas, shows Roy Oliver. The murder trial is set to begin Thursday, Aug. 16, 2018, for Oliver, a former Balch Springs, Texas, police officer, who opened fire into a moving car filled with black teenagers, killing a 15-year-old passenger in April 2017. (Parker County Sheriff's Office via AP, File)
FILE - In this May 6, 2017 file photo, mourners hold the commemorative program as they emerge from the funeral service for 15-year-old, Jordan Edwards...
FILE - In this May 6, 2017 file photo, mourners hold the commemorative program as they emerge from the funeral service for 15-year-old, Jordan Edwards, at Mesquite Friendship Baptist Church in Mesquite, Texas. Attorneys for the white former Texas police officer, Roy Oliver, charged with murder in the fatal shooting of the black teenager have requested an emergency stay to delay his trial, which is scheduled to begin Thursday, Aug. 16, 2018. The fired Balch Springs officer Oliver was charged after opening fire last year into a moving car filled with five black teenagers, killing Edwards. (Louis DeLuca/The Dallas Morning News via AP, File)
This undated photo provided by the Parker County Sheriff's Office shows Roy Oliver. Attorneys for the former Texas police officer Oliver charged with ...
This undated photo provided by the Parker County Sheriff's Office shows Roy Oliver. Attorneys for the former Texas police officer Oliver charged with murder in the fatal shooting of a black 15-year-old have requested an emergency stay to delay his trial, which is scheduled to begin Thursday, Aug. 16, 2018. The fired Balch Springs officer Oliver was charged after opening fire last year into a moving car filled with five black teenagers, killing Jordan Edwards. (Parker County Sheriff's Office via AP, File)
DALLAS (AP) — The Latest on the murder trial of a Texas police officer who fatally shot a teenager in a car (all times local):
12:15 p.m.
Opening statements are underway in murder trial of a former Texas police officer accused of firing into a car full of black teenagers and killing a 15-year-old boy.
Prosecutor Michael Snipes told jurors on Thursday that Jordan Edwards was an "innocent child" when he was killed last year by then-Balch Springs Officer Roy Oliver.
Snipes says the white former officer was angry, out of control and "trigger happy."
No guns were found inside the teens' car.
The shooting occurred as officers responded to a report of underage drinking at a house party.
According to court records, Oliver said he and his partner feared for their lives when the car carrying the teens sped past them. But the prosecutor says Oliver fired at the car after it passed.
The 38-year-old Oliver was fired from the police force after the shooting.
___
12:30 a.m.
A murder trial for a former Texas police officer who killed a black teenager highlights the heightened role that video evidence plays in high-profile police shootings.
Former Balch Springs officer Roy Oliver, who is white, opened fire last year into a moving car filled with five black teens and killed 15-year-old Jordan Edwards. The 38-year-old Oliver was fired after the shooting.
His jury trial is scheduled to begin Thursday in Dallas, but defense attorneys filed an emergency stay Wednesday to delay its start.
Oliver's attorneys say evidence will show Oliver "reacted properly." According to court records, Oliver said he and his partner feared for their lives when the car carrying the teens sped past them.
The officers were responding to a report of underage drinking at a house party.
