Hit-and-run driver who shot dead cop after hitting him unconscious with a ROCK goes on trial

A Massachusetts man who allegedly knocked a cop unconscious with a rock, shot him dead in the chest, and then gunned down an elderly woman, is awaiting his verdict after a three-week trial. 

Emanuel Lopez, 25, faces 11 charges - including two counts of murder and armed assault with intent to murder involving a firearm - after a Weymouth officer and 77-year-old woman were killed in July 2018. 

Officer Michael Chesna, a 42-year-old army veteran and father-of-two, died in the line of duty after pursuing the white BMW hit-and-run driver.

Chesna's heartbroken wife was seen sobbing during the closing arguments today.  

During the ordeal in 2018, Lopes fled the scene of an accident on foot when Chesna came across the then 20-year-old vandalizing a home.

Emanuel Lopez, 25, faces 11 charges - including two counts of murder and armed assault with intent to murder involving a firearm - after a Weymouth officer and 77-year-old woman were killed in 2018

Cindy Chesna is consoled by her sister Debbie at the close of the trial for her husbands alleged murder

Police officer Michael Chesna, 42, was shot and killed with his own gun after a man attacked him with a rock during a foot chase in Weymouth, Massachusetts

Chesna got out of his squad car and raised his gun, ordering Lopes to stop.

The suspect allegedly picked up a rock and struck Chesna over the head before taking his gun and shooting the officer in the head and chest.

He then fired three more shots, the stray bullets striking and killing Vera Adams in her home nearby, police say. The ordeal occurred just before 8am.

Officers who arrived on the scene after Chesna was shot chased after Lopes, shooting him in the leg and knee. 

He was still holding the officer's gun when he was arrested. 

Local residents, many of whom were only just having their morning coffee, came into the street to help the officer following the commotion. 

Chesna and Adams both died of their injuries. 

Prosecutor Greg Connor demonstrated how Lopes used a rock to knock Officer Chesna unconscious allowing him to take his gun and shoot him four times - and told the court that the shootings were deliberate

Prosecutor Greg Connor with the rock that the defendant allegedly used to immobilize the officer 

Widow Cindy Chesna looks emotional in court during the closing statements 

After two and a half weeks of testimony, the jurors are expected to start deliberating on Wednesday over the 2018 incident.

Lopes fired three shots, and the stray bullets killed Vera Adams (pictured)

Prosecutor Greg Connor demonstrated how Lopes used a rock to knock Officer Chesna unconscious allowing him to take his gun and shoot him four times - and told the court that the shootings were deliberate. 

Connor said: 'Mr. Lopes then took the gun that he had taken from the ground next to Sgt. Chesna, stood over Sgt. Chesna's body and then fired it eight times into his head and into his chest.' 

During the trial, defense attorney Larry Tipton said Lopes had 'major' mental health problems.

Tipton said: 'When he was examined by multiple clinicians, they gave him a diagnosis of not only major mental illness but something you’ll hear about – cannabis use disorder.' 

Cindy Chesna, the officer's wife, was crying during the trial and was consoled by her sister Debbie.

Officers work at the scene where their colleague Chesna was fatally shot in 2018

Superior Court judge Beverly Cannone

During the trial, witnesses also described what they saw during the fateful day.

Lopes was 20-years-old when he crashed into a vehicle and started running away near South Shore Hospital. 

Witness Kevin Pearson told the trial: 'As he was passing there were stones flying, a little bit of fishtailing in the car. He flew through the red light at Route 139.' 

William Kendall, who found a large rock on his kitchen floor that had been thrown through his window, said: 'I dialed 911 and I heard what I took to be gunshots. 

'I then laid down immediately and yelled to my wife, Judy, ‘Get down! Get down."

'My fear was that she would look out the window to see what was going on.'

Another local William McGuinness told court that he saw Lopes holding a rock over his head. He recalled: 'He proceeds to walk towards the back of the officer, standing over his head and began to shoot at him.

'I believe it was five times in the face, three times in the chest.' 

McGuinness' wife Amy then rushed out of their house to start giving the officer compressions, but she told the court: 'There was blood all over his face and the right part of his skull, or his head, everything was exposed.' 

The jury are now expected to begin deliberations. Lopes faces life imprisonment if he is found guilty.