Former police officer Kim Potter was convicted by a Minneapolis jury Thursday on all charges she faced for fatally shooting Daunte Wright earlier this year, NBC News reports.
Potter stood emotionless as the Hennepin County panel found her guilty of first-degree manslaughter, meaning she improperly used “such force and violence that death of or great bodily harm to any person was reasonably foreseeable.” Additionally, she was found guilty of a second-degree manslaughter charge, which required a finding of “culpable negligence” that created “unreasonable risk, and consciously takes chances of causing death or great bodily harm to another.”
According to the reports, Potter was found guilty of the lesser charge on Tuesday at 10:30 a.m. and the panel reached its verdict on the first-degree manslaughter charge on Thursday at 11:40 a.m. per the jurors' verdict form.
Keith Ellison, the attorney general of Minnesota, responded to the verdicts to reporters outside the courtroom. "Accountability is not justice ... justice is beyond the reach that we have in this life for Daunte. But accountability is an important step, a critical, necessary step on the road to justice for us all.”
Although Ellison said he felt sympathetic towards Potter and her family he said: “She will be able to correspond with them and sit with them no matter what happens. But the Wrights won't be able to talk to Daunte."
Katie Bryant, Wright’s mother, expressed her gratitude to the prosecutors and community activists for what she described as a “long fight for accountability."
“The moment that we heard 'guilty' on manslaughter 1, emotions — every single emotion that you could imagine — just running through your body at that moment," Bryant said.
"I kind of let out a yelp because it was built up in the anticipation of what was to come while we were waiting for the last few days,” she added.
Judge Regina Chu ordered that Potter taken into custody with her bail revoked, despite the objections from her legal team. Chu also stated that Potter is looking at serious time behind bars. “I cannot treat this case any differently than any other case,” Chu said.
As EBONY previously reported, on April 11, Wright was pulled over for a traffic violation for operating a vehicle with expired license plates and air fresheners hanging from the rearview mirror, which is illegal in Minnesota. Inside the vehicle was his two-year-old son.
When officers attempted to arrest Wright, he struggled to get back into his car. Before Wright was able to flee, Potter can be heard on police bodycam video yelling, “Taser, Taser, Taser.” Soon after, that same officer can then be heard saying, “I shot him.”
Potter claimed the shooting was accidental.
In her testimony last week, Potter described a “chaotic” scene that required her to make a sudden decision. She also testified that she feared for the safety of another officer, Sgt. Mychal Johnson, who was struggling with Wright on the passenger side of the vehicle.
During the trial, the prosecution team played video from Potter’s body camera for jurors, showing how she had her service weapon in her hand for at least five seconds before firing the gun. Also, the prosecution argued that the Glock used to kill Wright weighed approximately 2.11 pounds and her Taser weighed .94-pound and requires a safety switch to be pulled before use.
Potter faces a maximum of 15 years behind bars for her crimes. Her sentencing is set for Feb. 18.
