Arkansas State Police release body camera footage of fatal shooting of Hunter Brittain

Videos from body cameras show moments after deputy fired fatal shot

The Arkansas State Police released video Friday from the body camera of former Lonoke County Deputy Michael Davis, taken the night 17-year-old Hunter Brittain was fatally shot during a traffic stop near Cabot. Video at arkansasonline.com/mdavis/.
(Photo courtesy of Arkansas State Police)
The Arkansas State Police released video Friday from the body camera of former Lonoke County Deputy Michael Davis, taken the night 17-year-old Hunter Brittain was fatally shot during a traffic stop near Cabot. Video at arkansasonline.com/mdavis/. (Photo courtesy of Arkansas State Police)


The Arkansas State Police on Friday released body camera footage showing the moments after former Lonoke County sheriff's Deputy Michael Davis fatally shot Hunter Brittain during an early morning traffic stop June 23.

The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette and other media outlets have requested footage of the shooting for the past nine months, since the incident happened. It was released after the March 18 closure of a trial in which Davis, 31, was convicted of misdemeanor negligent homicide in the death of the 17-year-old from McRae.

The jury handed down a one-year jail sentence and a $1,000 fine -- the maximum penalty for the charge -- after finding Davis guilty. He is the first law enforcement officer to be convicted by an Arkansas jury for an on-duty shooting in recent history.

Davis was originally charged with felony manslaughter Sept. 17. The charge was brought by special prosecutor Jeff Phillips of the 5th Judicial District after Lonoke County prosecutor Chuck Graham recused himself from the case.

The misdemeanor charge enables Davis to still be eligible to serve as a law enforcement officer.

The case made national headlines and gained the attention of civil-rights activists, including the Rev. Al Sharpton, who spoke at Brittain's funeral July 6 at Beebe High School, where the teen attended school.

Brittain's family retained civil-rights attorneys Benjamin Crump and Devon Jacob soon after the shooting to handle the teen's estate and any civil suits. Crump and Jacob have been involved in high-profile homicide cases that include those of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Trayvon Martin and Ahmaud Arbery.

The video starts with Davis saying, "Shots fired, shots fired," across his radio.

It soon shows Davis telling another deputy, Nathaniel Rice, "The guy jumped out of the f****** truck and grabbed something out of the back, and it was a f****** oil can."

Davis then starts yelling at a passenger, Jordan King, "What are y'all driving the vehicle like that?"

"Why'd he hop out of the truck and grab that? Didn't put the truck in park, nothing," Davis says.

A video from Rice, who arrived within minutes of the shooting, shows King on the ground in cuffs as Davis yells.

King responds that the truck wouldn't shift into park.

During the trial, King told the jury that Brittain had been working on replacing his transmission all night. The two were test-driving the vehicle about 3 a.m when Davis pulled them over.

The vehicle was smoking and making loud noises, Davis and King have said. King, 16 at the time, said the teens had previously used a coolant container to stop the truck from rolling back.

Davis and King have said that Brittain jumped out of the truck as soon as he stopped for Davis.

Brittain made his way to the truck bed, where he grabbed a blue coolant jug. Davis shot Brittain once while Brittain's hands were still in the truck bed, according to Davis' statement to state police investigators and his testimony while on the stand.

Minutes after the shooting, a third deputy starts to console Davis while still at the scene.

She tells Davis, "It's OK."

Davis replies, "No, it's not."

Rice's video also starts right before "shots fired" transmits across his radio. He's still driving on his way to the scene.

Five minutes into Rice's video, someone notes that Brittain is still breathing. CPR is started almost immediately.

At about seven minutes into the video, another deputy arrives and says, "Why don't we just chill and stop talking now?"

Davis then moves to sit in another vehicle by himself. After a few minutes, he can be heard crying.

About 9:45 into the video, another officer comes up to Davis and says, "Buddy, I'm going to put my gun in your holster."

On Rice's footage, crime tape starts to go up as he gets Brittain's name from King.

An ambulance arrives on the scene at 14 minutes after "shots fired" went across the radio.

Rice's camera moves at about 19 minutes into his video, and Brittain is no longer on the ground.

Davis was fired from the Lonoke County sheriff's office on July 1 after Sheriff John Staley said Davis violated policy by not turning on his camera prior to encountering Brittain.

Staley said on the witness stand during the trial that deputies should turn on their body cameras at about the time they initiate blue lights, if conducting traffic stops.

Robert Newcomb, Davis' defense attorney, has said Davis believed that he had turned the camera on and didn't realize it wasn't working until after firing the shot that killed Brittain. He said Davis missed one of the three steps needed to activate the camera.

The state police were delayed in releasing the footage immediately after the trial as they waited on formal paperwork from the Lonoke County Circuit Court.

The video was first seen by the public during the first day of Davis' trial. Multiple Brittain family members rushed from the room as graphic images of the 17-year-old played out on a screen.

The state police released a majority of the investigative file Friday. The file includes hundreds of documents, including Davis' employment record, body camera footage from deputies and Cabot police officers who responded, crime scene photos and interviews with witnesses.

Taped interviews with Staley and Davis were still being redacted by the state police as of Friday and will be released at a later date.



Dear readers:

On Friday, the Arkansas State Police released the law enforcement video of the aftermath of the June 23, 2021, shooting death of Hunter Brittain in Lonoke County.

Because of the great public interest in this case, the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette has made the video available, but with two alterations: The view of the victim’s body has been blurred by our staff out of sensitivity, and the video, which is nearly 19 minutes long, has been shortened to about 15 1/2 minutes to eliminate portions that had no audio or meaningful video. 

Alyson Hoge

Managing Editor

Arkansas Democrat-Gazette




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