WISH-TV is streaming the trial on its Facebook page.

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — The trial for the man accused of killing Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department Officer Breann Leath in 2020 began Monday.

Elliahs Dorsey is accused of the fatal shooting of Indianapolis police officer Breann Leath while she and other officers responded to a domestic dispute just after 2:45 p.m. April 9, 2020, in the 1800 block of Edinburge Square. That’s in an apartment complex located southeast of the I-70 interchange with I-465.

Opening statements centered around the mental state that Dorsey was in during the shooting.

He’s charged with a count of murder, three counts of attempted murder, and a count of criminal confinement.

Dorsey’s defense attorneys told jurors that his mental health deteriorated following a breakup with a longtime girlfriend. They said that he woke up the morning of the shooting convinced that his family was dead and that there was a plot to kill him as well, and that, when officers knocked on the door of the apartment, he believed they were assassins’ there to kill him.

Defense attorneys told the jury they intend to prove that Dorsey is innocent by reason of insanity.

The prosecution told jurors that Dorsey was not insane at the time of the shooting and that he had a history of marijuana use. They said that Dorsey knew and appreciated the wrongfulness of what he was doing during the shooting.

The prosecution originally had sought the death penalty in the case, but that possibility is no longer an option after Dorsey underwent two psychiatric evaluations.

After opening arguments, the jury on Monday heard testimony from Leath’s mom and two officers who were on the call for service with Leath when she was shot.

The officers said they knocked on the door to the apartment without saying they were police. A few seconds later, the shots rang out hitting Leath in the head.

Testimony will resume on Tuesday morning.

The judge overseeing the case told the jury the trial could last through the middle of next week.

Mental health resources

• Be Well Indiana
• Indiana Suicide Prevention
• Indiana Department of Child Services’ Children’s Mental Health Initiative
• National Suicide and Crisis Lifeline: 988 or 800-273-8255
• More resources