NOT GUILTY
After nine days of testimony and nearly nine hours of closing arguments, Curtis Reeves, 79, was cleared of second-degree murder and aggravated battery charges.
It had been eight years since the fatal incident in the cinema.
But the jury took just three hours to come to their decision.
Shocked faces filled the courtroom and Chad’s family were left stunned as the verdict was heard.
There was a loud gasp and Chad’s widow Nicole was visibly shaking. However, Reeves did not react, and seemed calm.
‘I don’t understand. I don’t understand,’ Chad’s family repeated, as they wept and hugged each other in the car park outside the court.
But Reeves was free to celebrate the end of his ordeal.
‘It was trying, not just for me, but for my family. It was a tough time for all of us with the restrictions and all the things that went on over the years,’ he told the press afterwards.
And he offered his regret to Chad’s family. He said he wished the shooting had never happened but that he was looking forward to carrying on with his life, even preparing to attend his daughter’s wedding that very weekend.
Grieving Nicole gave a statement via her attorney, who told the press, ‘To say she’s disappointed, upset, angry, frustrated, those are all understatements.’