On Friday, former Brooklyn Center police officer Kim Potter was fined $1,000 and sentenced to two years for the April 2021 fatal shooting of 20-year-old Daunte Wright during a traffic stop. The sentencing comes just two months after Potter was found guilty.
According to ABC News, Potter will serve 16 months in prison and with the final eight months being served under supervised release. While delivering the sentence Judge Regina Chu said she received and read “hundreds” of letters in support of Potter.
“This is one of the saddest cases I have had in my 20 years on the bench,” Chu said. “Officer Potter made a mistake that ended tragically, but she never intended to hurt anyone.”
For first-degree manslaughter, the maximum sentence is 15 years and a $30,000 fine and for second-degree manslaughter – 10 years and a $20,000 fine. Prior to the sentencing, Wright’s mother, Katie Ann Wright asked Judge Chu to give Potter the maximum sentence.
“I will never be able to forgive you for what you have stolen from us,” she said, while addressing Potter during her statement. “You took his future. My life and my world will never be the same.”
Wright said she refused to give Potter sympathy because of her mugshot and that the officer only referred to her son as “the driver” during the incident.
“How do you show remorse when you smile in your mug shot after being sentenced to manslaughter, after taking my son’s life?” Wright asked.
Daunte’s father, Arbuey Wright echoed Katie Ann’s sentiments. “[Kim] was a police office longer than my son was alive,” he said. “She also damaged my whole family’s heart. Nothing will be the same. Everything we do as a family ends in tears because all we have is memories left of our son.”
Daunte’s sister Diamond Wright also gave a statement to the court. “I never thought that my brother would be killed by the same people we are supposed to feel protected by,” she said. “I feel like I have been living in a complete nightmare.”
On Tuesday, the office of Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison announced that they sought 7 years and 2 months of imprisonment for Potter.
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