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Ex-Minnesota officer Kim Potter was hit with 16 months behind bars for killing Daunte Wright after mistaking her gun for a Taser during a traffic stop.
Judge Regina Chu handed down the sentence over the objection of prosecutors after the former officer apologized to the victim’s family. Potter will serve 16 months in prison followed by eight months of supervised release.
“To the family of Daunte Wright, I am so sorry that I brought the death of your son, father, brother, uncle, grandson, nephew,” said Potter, 49, sobbing, as she turned to face them in the Minneapolis courtroom. “Katie, I understand a mother’s love, and I am sorry I broke your heart. My heart is broken for all of you.”
The judge said that Potter honorably served her community for 26 years and hundreds of letters “painted a portrait of a woman who touched a lot of people in a good way.”
Chu told the court that Potter was clearly remorseful. “She showed that today, she showed that when it happened,” the judge said.
The sentencing range on first-degree manslaughter is slightly more than six years to about 8 ½ from which a judge can depart if there are mitigating or aggravating circumstances.
Former Brooklyn Center police Officer Kim Potter reacts as Hennepin County Judge Regina Chu reads the verdict on Thursday, Dec. 23, 2021. (Court TV via AP, Pool)
(Court TV via AP, Pool)
Potter was convicted by a jury in December of first-degree and second-degree manslaughter for accidently shooting dead 20-year-old Wright April 11 of last year when he tried to flee.
Prosecutors pushed for the judge to impose the presumptive sentence of just over seven years in prison, while her defense lawyers argued for a probation-only punishment calling her actions an “innocent mistake” and Wright “the aggressor.”
Potter, a mother of two boys, has been custody since she was found guilty.
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During emotional statements before the sentencing was handed down, Wright’s family members questioned whether Potter was remorseful and urged the judge to impose the maximum sentence.
“April 11 was the worst day of my life,” said Wright’s mom, Katie Wright, as she wiped away tears. “A police officer, who is supposed to serve and protect, took so much away from us. She took our baby boy away from us with a single gun shot to his heart and shattered mine.”
Left: Bodycam video shows Brooklyn Center police attempting to arrest Daunte Wright on April 11, 2021. Right: Daunte Wright recorded himself playing with a handgun in a woman’s bathroom in December 2019 shortly before an alleged armed robbery attempt.
(Brooklyn Center Police Department/Osseo Police Department)
Wright’s father, Aubrey Wright, called his son his “reason to do better.”
The slain man’s little sister, Diamond Wright, said he had a smile “that could light up a whole stadium” and called his killing “murder.”
“One hint of blackness in our skin makes us a target,” she said.
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Chyna Whitaker, the mother of Wright’s only child, cried as she described how their son, Daunte Wright Jr., was born premature, and they feared he wouldn’t survive.
“I am now a single mother not by choice but by force,” she said. “He is now 2 years old and, since April 11, 2021, fatherless.”
The deadly police confrontation with Wright unfolded after he was pulled over for expired license tags in Brooklyn Center – about 15 miles from where George Floyd was murdered in Minneapolis.
When police tried to arrest Wright on an outstanding warrant for failure to appear on a weapons charge, he tried to drive away.
Potter, a 26-year veteran with a spotless record, can be seen in body camera footage shouting, “I’ll tase you! Taser! Taser! Taser!” before firing a single round. “I grabbed the wrong f—king gun,” she can be heard saying before collapsing on the curb.
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The shooting by a White cop of a Black man sparked widespread demonstrations marked by clashes between protestors and police and came in the midst of ex-cop Derek Chauvin’s trial for Floyd’s murder.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
