Deputy-killing suspect in newly released videos: I have no respect for cops | FLORIDA TODAY | floridatoday.com

Deputy-killing suspect in newly released videos: I have no respect for cops | FLORIDA TODAY | floridatoday.com



One of two people accused of killing Brevard County Sheriff’s Deputy Barbara Pill made anti-police statements in interviews after the shooting, according to audio and video recordings released Friday.

The State Attorney’s Office released hours of police interrogation recordings with suspects Brandon Bradley, 22, and Andria Kerchner, 20, as part of the court process.

Both are accused of first-degree murder in the fatal shooting of Pill on March 6. In one video, an investigator asks Bradley if it’s wrong to shoot a police officer.

“It’s wrong,” he said. “But at the same time, when three of my cousins got killed by police, and you walking up unholstering your holster, you feel me, … In my heart I feel like (expletive) but at the same time …” Bradley said that he thought Pill was going to shoot him, though witnesses told police she had her hand on her holster but did not draw her weapon.

 He said police had previously shot his “cousins.” Pill had stopped a sport utility vehicle connected to an earlier robbery at a motel when she was shot by the driver. The car then fled, eventually crashing into a ditch of water. In the interview, Bradley sits in the stark white room wrapped in a sheet and wearing a black T-shirt and red boxer shorts. His clothes got wet when the car crashed, according to police reports.

At times, he appears to be shaking and is inaudible on the recording. The two detectives ask Bradley, who is in handcuffs, to re-enact the shooting and show them where Pill was during the traffic stop. “How many times did you shoot her?” one investigator later asks. “Twice,” Bradley replies. Pill was shot five times, including once in the head, according to autopsy results.

Bradley says that his girlfriend, Kerchner, was not responsible for the shooting. He later asks detectives if Pill survived. “No, she’s not, she passed away,” the agent says. “I’m sorry,” Bradley replies. In separate interviews, Kerchner says someone who was in the backseat of the vehicle was the shooter, but later says it was the driver.

She first denies knowing Bradley but later claims she’s pregnant with his baby and says she would have shot him to stop him from shooting Pill. Kerchner speaks to investigators in a gravelly, emotional voice, breaking down often. No video of her first police interview was released. She says she’s in shock after seeing the deputy being shot in the face.

"My brother is a cop, I don’t want to see cops get killed,” she said. Records indicate her brother is an officer in Pennsylvania. Later, though, she says no one likes police. “I would have the respect for cops if they could, instead of all this (expletives) looking out for your own people.

That lady got shot, the whole place was surrounded. My brother got shot, you know how many cops showed up? Not a lot. I have no respect for cops.” She breaks down as she asks, about Pill, “Does she have kids? Please don’t tell me she had kids.”

The investigators tell her that Pill, 52, was a grandmother. Bradley is being held in the Seminole County jail and Kerchner in the Orange County jail. Their cases are scheduled for docket soundings, which are a sort of status check, on July 25.  

Contact Barchenger at 321-242-3669, sbarchenger@floridatoday.com or follow at Twitter.com/sbarchenger.