Daunte Wright’s mother asked a judge to send her son’s killer to prison, telling a convicted former police officer on Friday that she’ll “never be able to forgive you for what you’ve stolen from us.”
Hennepin County Judge Regina Chu is scheduled to sentence disgraced Brooklyn Center, Minnesota, police Officer Kim Potter for gunning down the Black motorist 10 months ago.
“Daunte Wright is my son, my baby boy and I say ‘is’ and not ‘was’ because he will always be my son and I’m proud to say that,” the victim’s mother, Katie Wright, told the court ahead of sentencing.
She added: “Daute’s smile was genuine and big, just like his dreams. You took them. You took his future.”
Feb. 18, 202209:24
Potter, 49, has been in custody since just before Christmas last year, when jurors convicted her of first-degree manslaughter for the April 11 slaying of 20-year-old Daunte Wright in the Minneapolis suburb of Brooklyn Center.
The victim’s father, Arbuey Wright, told the court he loved his son.
“I was so proud to be his father. He was handsome, he was my son, my prince,” he said. “He was my reason to do better. He was my reason to change in life.”
Wright was pulled over and police tried to arrest him on an outstanding weapons charge when he tried to get back into his car.
During a brief struggle, Potter — with a Glock holstered her right, dominant side, and her Taser on the left — pulled the firearm and fatally shot Wright.
The former officer testified in her own defense, saying the shooting was an accident and that she had meant to pull her non-lethal Taser.
Feb. 18, 202203:53
Defense lawyer Paul Engh called Potter’s act “an unintentional crime” and said his client is a suitable candidate for probation and not prison.
“This (case) is beyond tragic for everyone involved,” Engh told the court.
Potter sat at the defense table wearing a purple sweater and a blue paper medical mask.
Engh challenged claims by the prosecution and victim’s family that Potter didn’t show concern for Wright after she shot him.
“She was remorseful from the moment the gun was fired,” he said. “We can’t have a Kafkaesque standard of what remorse is.”
Potter has been held in isolation for her own protection, the defense said. Engh showed the judge a box of “thousands” of sympathetic letters and cards mailed to Potter.
“People took the time to write her,” he said. “This is unheard of for a defendant. I dare say no one in this room has ever seen anything like this.”
But prosecutor Matthew Frank said the crime’s impact cannot be understated, whether intentional or not.
“His name is Daunte Wright. We have to say his name. He’s not just the driver he was a living human being, a life,” Frank said.
Dec. 24, 202102:09
“The highest principle of law enforcement is the sanctity of life. His life counted. His life mattered. And that life was taken and the law recognized the severity of the loss of life when setting criminal penalties.”
Frank choked back emotion as he told Chu that this case demands significant prison time.
“This is a courtroom full of pain and anger,” he said. “How do we fix that? What can we do? ”
The slaying of Wright by a white officer sparked renewed protests and calls for justice in and around Minneapolis and other U.S. cities.
Wright was gunned down about 10 miles north of the courthouse where former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin was tried for killing George Floyd.
Days later, Chauvin, who is white, was convicted of second- and third-degree murder, as well as second-degree manslaughter. The May 25, 2020 killing of Floyd, a Black man, touched off a summer of national protests against police brutality and institutional racism.
Potter’s trial was held in the same courtroom where Chauvin was tried.
This is a developing story, please refresh here for updates.
Samira Puskar and Phil Helsel contributed.
Source: | This article originally belongs to Nbcnews.com
