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Cheap Tom Brady Jersey , La. (AP) The man convicted of manslaughter in the 2016 road rage shooting death of former NFL running back Joe McKnight was
sentenced to 30 years in prison Thursday.
Ronald Gasser, 56, had faced up to 40 years in prison. Defense lawyers argued that Gasser fired in self-defense when McKnight walked up to his car following a
5-mile confrontation that began on a bridge spanning the Mississippi River in
New Orleans and ended with gunfire in neighboring Jefferson Parish.
”Let this be a cautionary tale,” Judge Ellen Kovach said. McKnight’s death could have been avoided ”if either of the men had had the good sense, the
courage and the wisdom to simply disengage.”
Article continues below ... Sentencing followed emotional testimony from McKnight’s loved ones.
”That day
Cheap Josh Jackson Jersey , you didn’t have to do that,” McKnight’s mother, Jennifer McKnight, said while looking down at Gasser, who sat a few feet
away at the defense table. She cried throughout her testimony and was escorted
from the courtroom sobbing.
Witnesses at the trial said McKnight had been weaving in and out of traffic at high speed before the shooting. Prosecutors acknowledged to the jury that he
was
Cheap Joe Thuney Jersey , in the words of Assistant District Attorney Seth Shute, ”driving like a jerk.” But they argued that Gasser escalated the
conflict, following him down an exit that he would not ordinarily have taken
moments before the shooting.
Shute acknowledged that McKnight had a hand on the open, passenger side window of Gasser’s car before he was shot. But he said physical evidence proved
Gasser lied during extensive police questioning when he claimed McKnight lunged
at him.
Michelle Quick, the mother of McKnight’s now 9-year-old son
Cheap Clive Walford Jersey , described struggling to tell the child what had happened, and trying to protect him from seeing internet video of McKnight
on the ground at the shooting scene as people worked to save him.
Defense attorney Matthew Goetz, who is appealing the verdict, had argued for a lenient sentence, noting Gasser’s lack of a criminal record. A prosecutor
argued that Gasser has shown no remorse.
McKnight had been a high school football hero at Louisiana’s John Curtis Christian School. He signed with the University of Southern California in 2006.
In the NFL
Bengals Sam Hubbard Jersey , he played three seasons for the New York Jets and one with the Kansas City Chiefs.
Gasser was indicted on a second-degree murder charge. The jury voted 10-2 in January for the lesser verdict of manslaughter.
Gasser did not leave the scene of the shooting and he was released for a time after being questioned. He is white and his release after the shooting of the
black athlete sparked protests from some who said race was a factor.
Jefferson Parish Sheriff Newell Normand, who has since retired, denied that race played any role and noted that a thorough investigation led to Gasser’s
arrest and indictment. Prosecutors later recounted a painstaking investigation,
including an extensive search for witnesses and physical evidence that
eventually led to Gasser being charged.
The case in some ways echoed another New Orleans-area road rage shooting from 2016. Former New Orleans Saints star Will Smith was gunned down in that April
incident. The shooter was later convicted of manslaughter and sentenced to 25
years.
.
