Noah Johnson Daily Press The jury got a look at body cam footage of Cronick’s initial interaction with law enforcement following the shooting.

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 three 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. Tuesday, the victim of the shooting testified in court.

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 two members of law enforcement as well as Eric Parrotta, the father of Alex and the alleged victim.

Eric provided background on the day of the incident, saying he and his brother, John Parrotta, were at the residence that morning to try to retrieve a tractor from the property. They could not start the tractor and subsequently left without making contact with anyone at the residence, including Cronick. John and Eric stopped at a nearby store, waiting to see if Alex drove by en route to Cronick’s residence.

Prosecuting Attorney Lauren Wickman asked Eric why he followed Alex to Cronick’s residence. He said he was there to see what Alex wanted to do about the tractor and to support his daughter.

“I had never met anybody that enjoyed getting divorced. So, I wanted to support my daughter and be with her,” Eric said.

He spoke about his physical health that day, saying it was not very good as he has vascular disease and stage four cancer. He said the ailments affect his breathing and cause him to fatigue very quickly.

Wickman played the surveillance footage from the day, showing the interaction before the scuffle.

In the video, Eric calls Cronick gay and states he is going to put up a billboard of Cronick with money he was awarded in a small claims court settlement against Cronick.

Eric apologized for his language and said he called Cronick gay because one of his other children is gay and claimed Cronick did not want Alex or their child to be around them.

“I feel foolish. I’m a 54-year-old man using 12-year-old language, you know, calling somebody gay, that’s stupid. So, I mean, I guess I kind of apologize for that, but that was the thought behind it,” he said.

He added he believed he was defending his child in his own way.

Eric spoke about the incident, specifically slapping the phone out of Cronick’s hand. He said he felt threatened by the phone in his face but admitted he behaved badly by slapping it out of his hand.

Just before Eric slaps the phone out of Cronick’s hand, Cronick is speaking about Alex, defending accusations that he hit her. Wickman asked Eric how it made him feel hearing Cronick say Alex’s name.

He said he was upset and guessed that influenced his decision-making.

Defense Attorney Michale Boyle pointed to previous alleged instances where the two made contact with one another in a negative way.

Boyle asked Eric if he remembered an instance where he approached Cronick and got in his face during a custody exchange. Eric said he did not remember a situation like that occurring.

He also spoke about his point of view when Cronick pulled the gun, and what went through his mind after he was shot in the abdomen.

He said he felt like he was Cronick’s target as he pushed Alex and Cody Richards out of the way to pursue him. He said it looked like Cronick was aiming for his center mass.

After being shot, he said he first thought it was a rubber bullet but later realized it was real. He was transported to OSF by John before being airlifted to trauma surgery in Marquette, where he spent three days recovering.

The jury also heard from Delta County Sergeant Mike Groleau, the responding officer to the scene.

He said his initial contact with Cronick indicated that he acted out of self-defense, but after reviewing the footage, he decided there was probable cause to arrest Croncick.

The jury was able to view body cam footage of Groleau’s initial contact with Cronick. As Groleau and another deputy arrive, Cronick is sitting in a lawn chair with his hands up. He told dispatch and Groleau that the weapon was unloaded and inside his home on a table in the kitchen. He’s patted down by the deputy before inviting them inside to talk about what just occurred. He gave his account of the incident and said it was self-defense. Cronick did not want to share his surveillance footage at that point without speaking to his lawyer, and he even apologized to Groleau for not sharing the footage. Groleau obtained a search warrant and the footage, leading him to believe it may not have been self-defense.

He said the scuffle was mutual combat up until the point when Cronick drew his pistol and pursued Eric. After breaking free of Richard’s hold, he said Cronick re-entered the ‘danger area.’

After seeing the footage, Groleau arrested Cronick as more details of the shooting were revealed.

He added that the footage also showed that Cronick reacted with more force when he slammed Eric on a vehicle following Eric slapping the phone out of Cronick’s hand.

The jury briefly heard from retired Delta County Sgt. Tom Lewis, who went to gather information from Eric when he was in the hospital. Lewis confirmed the pants Eric was wearing on the day of the shooting and confirmed he took pictures of Eric’s injuries.

Just before adjourning for the day, the prosecution rested its case.

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