Kim Potter, a former Brooklyn Center, Minn., police officer was sentenced on Friday to two years in prison and supervised release for the fatal shooting of Daunte Wright in April 2021, The Hill reports.
Potter's sentence includes 16 months in prison and then eight months of supervised release for being found guilty of first- and second-degree manslaughter back in December.
At the sentencing hearing, Potter said her “heart is broken” for Wright’s family and that she prays for them “many times a day.”
Katie Wright, Daunte’s mother said she would never be able to forgive Potter for what happened.
“She never once said his name [in the trial],” Katie said. “And for that, I’ll never be able to forgive you. And I’ll never be able to forgive you for what you’ve stolen from us.”
Addressing Katie in her speech, Potter said she never looked at her during the trial because she didn’t believe she had a “right” to after the fatal encounter.
Judge Regina Chu, who presided over the trial, described the case as “one of the saddest” she’s seen in her 20 years as a judge.
Chu, who cried while handing down her decision, acknowledged many would be upset with her decision, but “believed given the circumstances Potter’s case did not warrant the normal sentencing.”
During Friday’s sentencing hearing, Potter said her “heart is broken” for Wright’s family and that she prays for them “many times a day.”
As EBONY previously reported, prosecutors in a sentencing memo asked the judge to give Potter 86 months, a little more than seven years. First-degree manslaughter comes with a sentence of 15 years in Minnesota, but offenders can receive less time if they have no criminal history.
Wright added Potter’s conviction needed the “strongest and most just sentence possible.”
Potter’s legal team wrote in their filing that Potter’s sentence should be lower because she has no criminal record and has shown remorse for her deadly actions.
“To impose a prison term here sends the message that if an officer makes a mistake, the Attorney General will be quick to charge (the Complaint was filed within days), and that officer will immediately be ruined by the publicity alone. And a few in the community will try to kill you,” Potter’s lawyers wrote.
Potter has been held without bail since her conviction in December
