Supporters of man who killed Hollywood cop in 2021 testify in death penalty hearing 

Friends of a South Florida man, who could be sentenced to death row after he killed a Hollywood Police officer, testified on Tuesday about his troubled childhood.

Jason Banegas pleaded guilty to shooting Officer Yandy Chirino in 2021.

During the second day of Banegas’ death penalty trial, his close family and friends sat in the front row of the courtroom for the first time since his death penalty trial began.

One of his friends, who grew up with him in Miami, testified that Banegas was a good person who went down the wrong path.

“He’s a good kid with a good heart pushed in the wrong direction, around the wrong people,” Eduardo Colon.

In October of 2021, Banegas shot and killed Officer Chirino in Hollywood as Chirino tried to arrest him during a burglary investigation.

Defense attorneys insisted that Banegas should be shown mercy because of a traumatic and anxiety-filled upbringing.

“This is a story about what happens to the child of a young girl who is sex trafficked by someone significantly older than her,” said Dr. Micah Johnson, a professor at UCLA.

Dr. Johnson examined Banegas in the years since, and testified that he could be a source for good, spending the rest of his life in prison.

“He could use his story and testimony to change and save lives, guide young people to a more positive path,” Johnson said.

At one point in their testimony, Banegas got emotional hearing his close friends talk about him.

They said he struggled with depression and anxiety since he was a child, but was never violent.

In court, it was revealed how Banegas got hold of the gun he used in the shooting.

His attorneys said he was struggling so much with depression that his sister gave him a gun as a way to lift his spirits.

They told the jury that at the time, he was making music and was an aspiring rapper, and that having a weapon made him feel better.

For Banegas to receive the death penalty, eight out of 12 jurors would need to recommend it, and the judge would have to agree.