Jacob Cronick

ESCANABA –The trial for a man accused of shooting his ex-father-in-law was declared a mistrial over the weekend.

Jacob Cronick, of Bark River, spent the past six days in Delta County Circuit Court facing two felony charges including assault with intent to do great bodily harm less than murder and felony firearm.

The jury began its deliberations at roughly 11:40 a.m. on Friday and continued into the weekend.

The court officer received a note from the jury on Friday just before 8 p.m. informing the court that the jury was polarized and deadlocked, adding that they believed no argument would change their minds.

Delta County Judge John Economopoulos adjourned for the evening and instructed the jury on what to do next when deliberations resumed on Saturday at 9 a.m.

The jury could not make a determination and stayed deadlocked through the afternoon on Saturday.

After more questions and deliberations, the jury was still deadlocked and could not come to a unanimous verdict.

The foreperson confirmed to Economopoulos it would be impossible for the jury to reach a unanimous verdict.

Just before 5 p.m., Economopoulos declared a mistrial.

He thanked the jurors for their service and excused them from duty. Jurors may now speak about the case if they choose and are not required to serve on a jury for a year.

Defense Attorney Michael Boyle made a statement following the mistrial, saying he and company will continue to fight for Cronick.

“On behalf of myself, my client, his family, and all his supporters in this community, we respect the jury’s hard work over the past 6 days and dedication throughout this trial. We believe in Jake’s right to a fair trial and our hopes were that he would be rightfully acquitted. Our goal was and is to get his life back including hugging his son for the first time in over 13 months. We will continue to advocate vigorously on his behalf.

But a hung jury indicates that there was significant debate and consideration, highlighting deficiencies in the allegations.

Therefore, given the jury’s inability to reach a unanimous decision, we hope the prosecution carefully considers the message this sends about the allegations and that in the interest of justice to not seek to retry this matter but a resolution allowing all parties to move forward,” Boyle said in an email.

The Daily Press reached out to Delta County Prosecutor Lauren Wickman as well, and will provide an update when she responds.

The shooting 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 alleged victim, Eric Parrotta, was shot in the abdomen by Cronick following a dispute over Eric being on his property.

The incident began just after 10 a.m. as Alex, Chris DuBord, and Cody Richards arrived at Cronick’s residence to collect Alex’s belongings out of the garage.

Eric and his brother, John Parrotta arrived shortly after.

Cronick and Eric did not like each other, and were not on good terms, evidenced by cell phone footage captured by Cronick and DuBord, as well as a surveillance footage from a home security camera positioned to see the driveway.

When Cronick saw Eric in his driveway, he approached him and told him that he could not be on his property. Cronick began recording on his phone, focused on his conversation with Eric.

In the video, Eric is heard saying he is there to help his daughter, which leads Cronick to tell Eric he doesn’t care. Eric then tells Cronick to call the sheriff and the bickering between the two continues.

Eric and Cronick briefly scuffled when Cronick placed his hands on Eric, trying to get him to leave the property.

After more bickering back and forth, Eric slapped Cronick’s phone out of his hand. Cronick then grabbed Eric and slammed him on the hood of Alex’s car that was parked in front of the garage.

John and Richards got involved in the altercation, with Richards putting Cronick in a chokehold. Dubord got involved as well, trying to pry Cronick off of Eric, but he eventually stepped out of the scuffle. Eric was able to get free and began heading away from the garage, while John, Cronick and Richards were still having an altercation.

Cronick freed himself and stepped away, before walking back towards the men holding a pistol. Cronick hit Richards with the hand holding the pistol and then shoved Alex, who had begun to approach him.

John can be seen holding his hand-up in the video before Cronick fired a shot at Eric, hitting him in the abdomen. The bullet exited his left side.

Cronick continued to approach Eric when John put up his hand and told him that they were leaving.

After the five individuals left the property, Cronick grabbed his phone and called 911. He left the gun inside the house, unloaded and waited for officers to arrive. He explained to responding officers that it was in self-defense and was later arrested after officers obtained a search warrant for the surveillance footage.

The defense argued that Cronick acted out of self-defense, and he developed a fear of Eric over time. Boyle argued that Cronick made it clear that he did not want Eric on his property, and pointed to a previous instance when Eric allegedly got in Cronick’s face and called him names during a custody exchange.

Cronick said he believed Eric was in possession of a handgun on the day of the incident, and said he saw Eric raise his hand like he was drawing a gun.

Wickman argued that Cronick did not act out of self-defense, because he went beyond what the law allows for self-defense and duress. She referenced the size difference between Cronick and Eric, saying Cronick was much bigger than Eric.

She also pointed out that Cronick has never seen Eric with a handgun and he does not own one.

Cronick said he believed that Eric had a gun because it was someone of Eric’s size attacking him. Wickman also noted that Cronick never disclosed that he thought Eric had a gun when initially speaking with the responding officers. Cronick said he was in trauma therapy and it was explained to him that traumatic experiences can force the brain to block out certain details.

In closing arguments, Boyle asked the jury to not send Cronick away, but to send him home as he acted out of self-defense.

Wickman asked the jury to find him guilty on both counts, saying Cronick did not have a honest and rational belief that he was in danger of Eric.

After two days of deliberations, the jury could not come to a unamious decision and a mistrial was declared.

The jury trial began on Monday morning with jury selection and ran from roughly 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. the first four days with a lunch break. Jurors spent the entire day Friday, from 8 a.m. to just before 8 p.m., in court with their deliberation beginning just before noon. They were given a dinner break as well. They reconvened Saturday morning at 9 a.m. and deliberated to just before 5 p.m.

Family and friends of both the defense and the prosecution came each day to observe the proceedings.

The jury heard from several witnesses, including Cronick, Eric, Alex, John, DuBord, Richards, Kim Schlenvogt, retired Delta County Sheriff’s Department Sgt. Tom Lewis and Delta County Sheriff’s Department Sgt. Mike Groleau.