The former cop was sentenced to prison for fatally shooting Daunte Wright during a traffic stop.
Former police officer Kim Potter was sentenced Friday to two years in prison for fatally shooting Daunte Wright during a traffic stop last year in a Minneapolis suburb. Potter was convicted of first-degree and second-degree manslaughter in December, but she was only sentenced for the more serious charge.
The judge ordered that she must serve two-thirds of the sentence, or 16 months, behind bars, with the remaining time under supervised release.
According to prosecutors, Potter, 49, faced a presumptive sentence of just over seven years under state guidelines. Her attorneys asked for a lesser sentence or just probation, CBS Minnesota reports.
During Friday's hearing, Wright's family asked Judge Regina Chu for the maximum punishment allowed.
"I'll never be able to forgive you for what you've stolen from us," Wright's mother, Katie Wright, said to Potter.
Defense attorney Paul Engh said Potter's "one five-second mistake" should be balanced against what he called a "virtuous life."
Wright, a 20-year-old Black man, was pulled over in Brooklyn Center in April for having expired license plate tags and an air freshener hanging from his vehicle's rearview mirror. When Potter, who is White, and another officer tried to arrest him on an outstanding warrant, Wright got back into the driver's seat.
Before Wright drove away, Potter said she thought she grabbed her Taser, but she pulled her gun instead and shot Wright in the chest. While being questioned by the prosecution during her trial, Potter broke down sobbing on the witness stand, telling the court, "I'm sorry it happened."
Friday's hearing comes a day after the funeral for Amir Locke, a 22-year-old Black man who was shot to death in Minneapolis by a police officer executing a no-knock warrant at an apartment. The shooting is under investigation.
This article was originally published by CBS News on Feb. 18, 2022 at 12:11 p.m. ET.
RELATED CONTENT:
