Noah Johnson Daily Press Delta County Prosecutor Lauren Wickman prepares to show the jury a surveillance video of the day the shooting took place.

ESCANABA — The trial for a man who allegedly shot his ex-father-in-law began on Monday after jury selection.

Jacob Cronick, age 29, now of Bark River, 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 charges stem from incident that occurred at 8311 County Road 416 J Road. Cronick previously lived at the residence, but he has since moved.

The jury — consisting of 12 people, six men and six women — first heard each side’s opening statements. The jury also watched a video of the incident occurring.

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. Their divorce was finalized in December of 2023.

According to information given in open court, her boyfriend, Chris DuBord, and a work friend, Cody Richards, arrived at Cronick’s residence just after 10 a.m. Alex and the two men drove separately and arrived one after another.

In addition to items in the garage, Alex also wanted to retrieve a tractor and called a local towing company when she arrived at the property.

Not long after Alex, DuBord and Richards arrived at Cronick’s home, Alex’s father, Eric Parrotta, and her uncle, John Parrotta, arrived in a truck to help the other three load Alex’s belongings.

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.

During the argument, Alex asked Dubord to start recording and he did for a minute or so, before going back to loading items from the garage. Alex and Eric continued to argue with Cronick.

Eric and Cronick briefly scuffled when Cronick placed his hands on Eric, trying to get him to leave the property. Alex can be heard on the video telling Cronick to not touch her dad and Cronick responds by saying, “I told him to leave.” Alex responds by saying she didn’t care what he asked, and dared him to touch her dad again.

Eric said he was there to make sure Cronick did not hurt his daughter again, referencing a previous incident between Alex and Cronick. Cronick denied ever harming Alex and said he had messages to prove that she actually hit him.

Following the statement, 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.

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.

During opening statements, Delta County Prosecuting Attorney Lauren Wickman told the jurors it was their job to determine if Cronick was guilty beyond a reasonable doubt, saying they will hear from several witnesses through the coming days.

“You’ll be asked to answer certain questions to fulfill those elements that I have to prove to you beyond the reasonable doubt. I would ask (that you) keep those questions in mind as you listen to the testimony, watch the videos, and see all the evidence that’s presented over the next few days,” Wickman said.

She said the defense, led by Attorney Michael Boyle, will argue that Cronick acted out of self-defense when the incident occurred.

“The standard that the Court will be instructing you on is whether or not … the defendant honestly and reasonably believe that he was in danger of being killed or seriously injured by Eric Parrotta,” she said.

She told the jury to keep certain questions in mind when making that determination, such as whether or not Cronick’s actions were proportional to the force he faced from Parrotta.

“I believe at the end of this trial, I will be asking you to find the defendant guilty of count one, the assault with intent to do great bodily harm, and count two, the felony firearm. Thank you,” she said.

Boyle began his opening statements by sharing Cronick’s perspective from that day, saying he was scared and acted in self-defense.

“Jake (Cronick) acted in self-defense, yet he stands here before all of you, asking that someone else, stands up for him,” Boyle said.

He asked the jury to imagine being Cronick, and fearing for his life after he was choked for over 20 seconds with the threats of “putting him to sleep,” which the defense claimed Cronick heard Richards say while he was pinned to the hood of Alex’s vehicle.

“Picture this, my client, in the safety of his own driveway was suddenly besieged by five individuals who launched a vicious attack. He was choked, leaving him not only physically vulnerable, but also mentally overwhelmed by the assault,” Boyle said.

He argued that in the midst of the chaos, Cronick’s mind was overtaken by fear and a genuine belief that one or multiple of the five individuals was armed. Boyle said when Cronick began to get up he heard someone say, “He’s got his, I’m getting mine,” and saw one of the men opening their truck.

As Boyle described the incident, Cronick appeared visibly upset hearing the events of the day laid out.

“As we said, this takes place in Jake’s driveway. That is home where one should feel safe, but he certainly did not feel safe,” said Boyle.

Boyle pointed to the state’s “Stand your Ground statute,” which states an individual does not have a duty to retreat, saying it applies to Cronick and his actions. Boyle also spoke about Cronick’s actions with law enforcement after the incident.

“When the officers arrived, he invited them inside because it was so cold out. He told him where the firearm was. He was cooperative, he was professional, he was courteous, and he was still scared,” Boyle said.

After opening arguments, Wickman called DuBord to the witness stand.

Wickman walked DuBord through the surveillance footage, identifying each person who appeared on television the property that morning.

DuBord said he thought the process of getting Alex’s belongings would take roughly 10 minutes. He then said he was observing the argument between Eric and Cronick, when Alex asked him to record the confrontation. He eventually stropped recording as two were bickering, and began to grab more items from the garage.

Boyle submitted screenshots with time stamps on the incident, to determine how long Cronick was being choked. Video footage determines that Cronick was choked for roughly 20 seconds, contrary to an initial statement by DuBord that Cronick was being choked for 45 seconds.

DuBord said that was his recollection at the time and everything was happening so fast in the moment.

“So quick in fact, that your initial recollection was that as soon as Jake pulls out of the choke hold, he pulled his gun out and shot right away,” Boyle said.

DuBord said that was his belief at the time.

Court adjourned following a 10-minute recess due to technical issues. Proceedings will reconvene today at 9 a.m. with DuBord back on the stand for a redirect examination by the prosecution.