Jurors have started deliberating in the case for a man accused of fatally shooting a Weymouth police officer and an innocent bystander.
Emanuel Lopes is charged with the murders of Sergeant Michael Chesna and 77-year-old Vera Adams in July of 2018.
Lopes was accused of fleeing from a crash near South Shore Hospital and throwing a rock through a window of a nearby home.
Chesna was about to finish his shift that day, and was one of the first officers on the scene. Lopes was accused of striking Chesna with a rock, taking his service weapon, and shooting him multiple times with it.
Prosecutors say he shot at responding officers, and was injured when officers returned fire. He fled, and shot Adams, who was on her porch that morning.
In closing arguments Wednesday, defense attorney Larry Tipton says Lopes has an extensive history of mental illness, and was in a state of psychosis, the day of the murders after an argument with his girlfriend at the time.
He asked jurors to find Lopes not guilty by reason of insanity.
Assistant District Attorney Greg Connor says the Commonwealth agrees that Lopes has a mental disease or defect, citing testimony from doctors. But it did not affect his ability to appreciate the wrongfulness of his actions.
The trial has been taking place over the past three weeks at Norfolk Superior Court in Dedham, and jurors heard from witnesses that included medical personnel, police officers, neighbors, and friends of Lopes.
