CBS 58 MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) -- Closing arguments are now underway in the trial of Tremaine Jones, the man accused of killing Milwaukee police officer Kendall Corder and injuring his partner last summer.
The state has called 35 witnesses in making their case. Though the defense didn't call for any witnesses, we heard from the defendant Friday morning in a phone call from jail to his mother.
"I was so (expletive) scared, mom, that (expletive) got me so emotional," Jones said in the call. "It was like, bro, I'm so (expletive) scared."
That phone call took place five days after Jones was arrested. You hear him say he was scared, crying at times over the phone. We also heard him say he "followed his instincts" to leave the apartment complex on 25th and Garfield and was getting ready to leave, adding that he's "not stupid."
You could also hear him say he thought the two officers, Kendall Corder and Christopher McCray, were "random people from the hood." He later said he didn't hear the officers identify themselves, but saw the flashlight attached to the rifle that Corder was holding - and after they stopped for what he said was 10 seconds, he said, "It was my reaction out of fear."
After closing statements, the jury will deliberate the four felony charges. Jones is facing life in prison.
