INDIANAPOLIS — The mental health of a man on trial for killing an IMPD officer was in focus on Thursday.
Elliahs Dorsey is accused of shooting officer Breann Leath in April 2020.
The prosecutor's office dropped the death penalty against Dorsey prior to the trial starting following psychiatric evaluations from two court-appointed doctors.
The defense argues Dorsey was insane at the time of the shooting.
Witnesses testified today about head injuries Dorsey received while playing football throughout his life.
His family and ex-girlfriend testified that prior to the shooting, they noticed changes in Dorsey's behavior.
"He kept himself well-groomed then he started deteriorating. He was shifty, constantly looking over his shoulder. His posture was very slumped over and he just was zoned out a lot," said Larry Dorsey Jr.
His family also said prior to the shooting, Dorsey began wearing a bulletproof vest, carrying a gun everywhere he went, and was paranoid someone was trying to kill him.
"He was taking a gun to places we don’t need protection,” said Dorsey Jr.
His father, Larry Dorsey, says he had concerns about his safety.
“He felt someone was out to kill him, and out to kill his family,” Larry Dorsey said. “I’m not sure where this was coming from, but it came up all of a sudden.”
Text messages from Dorsey’s ex-girlfriend were shown to the jury, asking his family to intervene because she was concerned for his mental health and safety.
Those messages were sent the night before Leath's murder.
"I texted the whole family in group message and told them 'I need you to check in on Elliahs because he’s not acting like himself,'" said Bianca Davis.
Her whole text message to the family reads:
This is the second or third time he came to my house, harassing me and he’s disrespecting my parents’ house. It's to the point of obsession and stalking. I feel endangered. My father is extremely upset and wants the police on him and a restraining order. He doesn’t look like himself. He’s losing it. He’s also constantly texting me all day with crazy messages. At this point, I’m deeply concerned about his mental health. He is not stable! Please! I'm asking ya’ll to look after him and intervene. Life is already stressful right now so to add all this is too much. He’s impacting, not just me at this point, but my whole family and I cannot let that stand. I don’t want to have to involve the cops because I know how they treat black men but at the same time, if he continues this then we will have no choice.
“I sent that message because I was concerned about him, his safety and my safety,” said Davis.
The defense also called coaches to talk about concussions. On Tuesday, two court-appointed doctors will testify.
Dorsey is charged with Murder and four counts of Attempted Murder. His trial is expected to wrap up next week.
