Justice for Daunte Wright: Sentencing of Kim Potter
posted by Ty Hamer-Yelverton | February 21, 2022 | In NewsOn February 18, a former Minnesota policer who mistook her taser for a gun, leading to the death of 20-year-old Daunte Wright, was sentenced to 2 years in state custody for first- and second-degree manslaughter, according to ABC News. Of those two years, she will serve 16 months in prison, with supervised release for the rest of time serve.
The maximum sentence would have been roughly seven years for first-degree manslaughter however Judge Regina Chu ruled that there were alleviating elements in the case. Potter has already served about 2 months behind bars with the 14 months remaining.
Judge Chu claims because of chaotic setting of crime scene, Potter accidentally shot Daunte Wright. NPR reported that Judge Chu said: “Potter’s decisions were not driven by personal animosity toward Mr. Wright.”
Wright’s family felt that the criminal justice system has cheated them and in turn “murdered Daunte all over again.”
Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison accepted the court’s sentence of Kim Potter and urged others to do the same while calling for the remembrance of Wright, claiming, “to know that no number of years in prison could ever capture the wonder of this young man’s life.”
Photo courtesy of Lorie Shaull
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