Former Columbus Police Vice Officer Andrew Mitchell took the stand Friday in his own defense in his second murder trial, nearly a year after the first one ended in a deadlocked jury, which resulted in a mistrial.
Mitchell faced questions for over three hours on the stand from Defense Attorney Mark Collins and Assistant Franklin County Attorney Sheryl Pritchard.
Officials say Mitchell killed 23-year-old Donna Castleberry in August 2018 while allegedly working undercover as part of an attempted prostitution sting.
Pritchard showed security camera footage of the shooting combined with audio from Mitchell's phone that he used to record the interaction.
Mitchell said when he tried to put Castleberry in handcuffs, she resisted arrest, choked Mitchell and cut him with a knife before he shot her six times in the back of an unmarked police car.
Mitchell said he feared for his life during the altercation and made the choice to shoot Castleberry, despite not being able to fully see her, after she got behind him in the unmarked police vehicle.
"I believed she was gonna cut me on the neck, cut me on the head, do anything she wanted to. I shot two or three times across my chest. I don't know where the bullets went. I just shot as fast as I could," Mitchell said.
When asked by Pritchard, Mitchell said he was not looking at Castleberry during the first shots.
Mitchell shot Castleberry a total of six times and she died from her wounds. Mitchell claimed he acted in self-defense, while prosecutors say he used excessive and unreasonable force to kill Castleberry.
"I just took somebody's life, I had a severe cut to my hand, I was just choked out... it was a nightmare. It is still a nightmare to this day," Mitchell said.
Pritchard questioned Mitchell about why he did not have his badge during the arrest and why he didn't call for backup at first. Mitchell testified that Castleberry didn't believe he was a cop despite showing her his City of Columbus ID card.
"So you were ill-prepared to do your job on this day and you even knew you could get reprimanded, right?" Pritchard asked Mitchell.
"Yea, that I didn't have my badge, yes," Mitchell answered.
In the video Castleberry questions whether he is a cop and shouts to a bystander asking for them to call the cops to help her.
Mitchell also faces a July trial on federal charges of forcing women to have sex in order to win their freedom.
Mitchell is charged with murder and voluntary manslaughter. He faces life in prison if convicted on the murder charge. If convicted of manslaughter, Mitchell faces 3 to 11 years in prison.
Testimony is expected to continue on Monday.
