Trial for off-duty Beaver County police officer charged in man's death begins Tuesday
Former Center Township police officer John Hawk is charged with involuntary manslaughter in the death of Kenneth Vinyard. The jury will be asked at trial whether his actions in 2022 caused Vinyard to die.
The trial will start at 9 a.m. on Tuesday. It is expected to last until Friday.
"It's been absolute hell, torture," said Deborah Little, Vinyard's sister. "It's a lot of emotions. Relief in a way that we are finally to the point where we have been fighting for almost three years."
In November 2022, Hawk was off duty and out of uniform when he was shopping at the Walmart store in Monaca. He was asked to help fellow officers at a shooting scene in the parking lot.
The Vinyard family's civil attorney said a cell phone video shows Vinyard trying to give information to police about the suspect when Hawk sweeps Vinyard's leg, knocking him to the ground. He hit his head on the pavement and died at the hospital.
The coroner ruled Vinyard's death an accident and said the cause was hypertensive and atherosclerotic disease, saying, "blunt force trauma of the head and associated stress that occurred during the confrontation contributed to his demise."
Several sources who saw the police body camera video told KDKA they thought Hawk's actions were "unjustified."
"Nothing that will happen this week will bring him back, and it won't take away the hurt and the tragedy it has done to our family," Little said. "But I promised him when he died that I would fight until I could fight no more, and that's what I intend to do."
Hawk's attorney on Monday declined to comment on the case, which is being tried by the Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General. But Little, who flew in from Georgia to attend the trial, had a lot to say.
"We want the best outcome to be that he is found guilty, and hoping and praying that is what happens," she said.
"What do you think would be a just punishment for former police officer John Hawk?" KDKA's Jennifer Borrasso asked.
"He needs to go to prison," Little said. "To me, that's the only just form of punishment for him. He took my brother's life without reason."
During the trial, prosecutors could call up to 15 witnesses, though no word on whether Hawk — who has been out on bond — will take the stand.
Hawk's defense did get a major win before the trial. The judge threw out the aggravated assault charge earlier this year. Involuntary manslaughter could result in five years in prison.
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