Noah Johnson Daily Press Defense Attorney Michael Boyle asks Cody Richards to demonstrate the hold he had on Jacob Cronick the day of the incident.

ESCANABA — The jury trial for Jacob Cronick of Bark River, who is accused of shooting his ex-father-in-law, continued Tuesday with testimony from four witnesses in Delta County Circuit Court. He is charged with one count of felony firearm and one count of assault with intent to do great bodily harm less than murder or by strangulation.

The incident took place on Jan. 21, 2024, when Cronick’s ex-wife, Alexandria “Alex” Parrotta came to Cronick’s residence to retrieve some of her belongings from the garage with some other people. An altercation broke out which resulted in the shooting.

The court heard from Christopher DuBord, the fiance of Cronick’s ex-wife, Alexandria ‘Alex’ Parrotta.

DuBord was only on the stand for a few minutes as he started his testimony on Monday.

The prosecution then called Cody Richards to the stand. Richards is a friend of Alex and DuBord and was there the day the incident occurred. Richards brought his truck and a trailer to help retrieve Alex’s belongings.

Richards got involved in the initial altercation when Cronick slammed Eric Parrotta, Alex’s father, on the hood of her car parked in front of the garage.

Richards stated he knew very little about the items they were picking up and did not personally know Cronick, Eric Parrotta or John Parrotta, Eric’s brother, who came to help load items.

Richards said he intervened because it didn’t seem like a fair fight.

“It was an older man being attacked by somebody who is younger and a lot bigger than he is,” Richards said.

Defense Attorney Michael Boyle sought to clarify how Richards held onto Cronick during the altercation.

Boyle had Richards demonstrate to the jury how he held Cronick during the altercation.

Richards demonstrated and said he was holding Cronick from the back of his neck and believed he did not apply a lot of pressure.

Boyle also pointed to the fact that Richards can be heard in surveillance footage telling Cronick he was going to put him to sleep three times, with Alex saying, “Put him to sleep, Cody.”

Richards said he didn’t remember saying it until he saw the video.

Richards said he wanted to get Cronick unconscious to stop the situation.

Boyle also questioned Richards’ original statement when he said he would let go of Cronick as soon as Eric was free.

According to the video, Richards held onto Cronick after Eric was out of the scuffle.

Boyle also pointed to when Richard approached his truck, saying, “He’s got his, I’m going to get mine.” Richards said he was referring to DuBord, who was calling 911 and saying he would also grab his phone.

Following Richards, the prosecution called Alex to the stand, who described the physical difference between Cronick and Eric. She said while he and Cronick were married, he was very into his personal fitness.

“He lifted every day, he ran every day, he was a wrestler. That was the only thing going through my mind, is he could really hurt my dad just by being on top of him in the way that he was,” Alex said.

Alex was visibly emotional during parts of her testimony.

Prosecuting Attorney Lauren Wickman asked Alex about the size difference. Alex said Cronick was roughly 150 pounds heavier than Eric and taller than him by several inches.

She also gave background on her relationship with Cronick, as well as Cronick’s relationship with her father.

Cronick and Alex first filed for divorce in 2022 and finalized in December of 2023. Alex said the relationship between Cronick and Eric was not good by any means; the two even went to small claims court over a property dispute that Alex said Cronick would not release until the divorce was finalized.

Cronick and Alex previously set up a time for Alex to come retrieve her property, and she offered to come alone if Cronick could help her. The jury was shown the text thread between the two from December 19, 2023. Alex sends a text that reads in part, “I just don’t want to bring anyone…. Just will know things will go smoother that way.”

The day did not ultimately work out, but Cronick says in the messages that he does not care who comes to help her get her stuff, just as long as it is not three individuals, including Eric.

Roughly a month later, the incident occurred.

Alex was also asked about her comments to Richards, encouraging him to put Cronick to sleep.

She said she believed if Richards could get Cronick unconscious, the police would be even closer to making contact and could help the situation.

The day’s final witness was John, Alex’s uncle and Eric’s brother.

John explained that he was there to help get Alex’s belongings and did not intend to get confrontational.

When things started to get heated, John said he tried to de-escalate the situation.

When the fight broke out, John said he was trying to split up Eric and Cronick but inadvertently grabbed onto Richards’s leg, thinking it was Cronick.

The fight was broken up, and John was still trying to mediate the situation. He testified that after Eric was shot, he got in Cronick’s way to say that they were leaving.

“There was no turning back. There was no finishing the job that we went to do. And we had to go to the hospital,” John said.

John said he was never scared during the interaction and just wanted to get Alex’s belongings and be done with the situation.

He also stated he never wanted to fight and only tried to restrain Cronick during the scuffle. Wickman asked why John didn’t want to fight and he explained he didn’t want to because there are better ways to solve getting personal property from somebody’s house.

Wickman also talked about the amount of force Cronick used against Eric after Eric slapped his phone out of his hand. He said he thought it was “Quite a bit much.”

The trial continues today, starting at 9 a.m.