MINNEAPOLIS (AP) 鈥� The woman who was riding with when he was pulled over by police testified Thursday about the chaos right saying she screamed at Wright trying to get a response but that he "wasn鈥檛 answering me and he was just gasping.鈥�
鈥淚 grabbed whatever was in the car. I don鈥檛 remember if it was a sweater or a towel or something 鈥� and put it on his chest like you see in movies and TV shows," Alayna Albrecht-Payton, who was Wright's girlfriend, testified. "I didn鈥檛 know what to do.鈥�
Albrecht-Payton answered Wright鈥檚 cellphone as his mother tried frantically to reestablish contact after a call with him was cut off right before he was shot. Wright鈥檚 mother, Katie Bryant, testified tearfully on Wednesday that she first saw her son鈥檚 apparently lifeless body via that video call.
鈥淚 pointed the camera on him," Albrecht-Payton said. "And I鈥檓 so sorry I did that.鈥�
49, is charged with in Wright鈥檚 April 11 death in Brooklyn Center. The white former officer 鈥� she resigned two days after the shooting 鈥� has said she on the 20-year-old Wright, who was Black, after he attempted to drive away from a traffic stop as officers tried to arrest him, but that she grabbed her handgun instead.
Albrecht-Payton, 20, took the stand on the second day of testimony, after opening statements Wednesday in which prosecutors portrayed Potter as a veteran cop who had been repeatedly trained in Taser use, with warnings about avoiding such deadly mix-ups.
The defense countered that Potter had simply made an error. Attorney Paul Engh also said Wright might have averted tragedy if he had surrendered to Potter and the other officers at the scene.
Defense attorney Earl Gray pressed Albrecht-Payton on Wright's actions immediately after Potter shot him, in an apparent attempt to show that Wright deliberately tried to drive away even while gravely wounded.
Albrecht-Payton said Wright鈥檚 hands 鈥渨ere never on the wheel鈥� and that the car moved away from the scene because his foot was on the gas.
Gray also questioned Albrecht-Payton about the couple's activities before the traffic stop. She testified that they had smoked marijuana that day.
The jury was shown police videos that showed the scene after Wright鈥檚 vehicle slammed into another car. The collision was captured by the dashcam of Officer Alan Salvosa's police car, which was behind the car when Wright鈥檚 vehicle struck it.
Salvosa鈥檚 body camera showed him calling for aid as he drew his weapon and repeatedly ordered 鈥淧ut your hands up!鈥� to the occupants of Wright鈥檚 car. The passenger 鈥� Albrecht-Payton 鈥� is heard saying 鈥淚 can鈥檛.鈥� Salvosa testified that he couldn't see into the rear of the car, which he knew had just left a location where officers were seeking to make an arrest.
As Salvosa waited for backup and ambulances, about 8 1/2 minutes passed from the moment of the crash before officers moved in to begin trying to help Wright. Salvosa鈥檚 body camera footage shows that officers at the scene of the crash did not immediately know that Wright had been shot.
In her opening statement, prosecutor Erin Eldridge told the jury that after Potter shot Wright, she didn鈥檛 try to render aid and didn鈥檛 immediately call in the shooting.
Prosecutors on Thursday also called the wife and the daughter of a man who was in the car struck by Wright's to testify about the toll the crash took on the man's health. Denise Lundgren Wells testified that her father, Kenneth Lundgren, had health issues before the crash but that his decline accelerated afterward. He is now in his 80s and in hospice care, she testified.
Video dominated the first day of testimony, with officers' body cameras and a different police dashcam that showed Potter threatening to shoot Wright with a Taser as another officer tried to pull him out of his car. After she shot him with her gun, Potter can be heard saying, 鈥淚 just shot him. ... I grabbed the wrong (expletive) gun!"
A was seated last week in the case, which sparked angry demonstrations outside the Brooklyn Center police station last spring just as former Minneapolis Officer was on trial 10 miles (16 kilometers) away for killing George Floyd.
The defense says Potter made a mistake when she grabbed the wrong weapon and shot Wright. But they also say that she would have been justified in using deadly force because Wright was about to drive away with one or both of Wright's fellow officers endangered.
The charges don鈥檛 require proof that Potter intended to kill Wright.
Potter, who told the court she will testify, was training a new officer for having expired license plate tags and
The most serious charge against Potter requires prosecutors to prove recklessness, while the lesser requires them to prove culpable negligence. Minnesota鈥檚 sentencing guidelines call for a prison term of just over seven years on the first-degree manslaughter count and four years on the second-degree one. Prosecutors have said they will seek a longer sentence.
Gov. Tim Walz said Wednesday that he was preparing the National Guard to help with security if needed after the verdict.
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This story was corrected to delete a reference to Albrecht-Payton saying she and Wright smoked marijuana at 10 a.m. on the day of shooting. She said they smoked that day but didn't specify when.
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Find the AP鈥檚 full coverage of the Daunte Wright case:
Amy Forliti And Steve Karnowski, The Associated Press