Photo Courtesy of Associated Press
On October 21, ex-Minneapolis police officer, Mohamed Noor who was sentenced to third-degree murder and manslaughter, has now had his charges lowered only to second-degree manslaughter and 57 months in prison.
The Minnesota Supreme Court overturned Noor’s murder conviction, and at hearing this week, Hennepin County Judge Kathryn Quaintance gave him the renewed charges as the maximum penalty.
“You did shoot across the nose of your partner. You did endanger a bicyclist and residents of a community of surrounding houses on a summer Saturday evening,” Quaintance said. “One household was entertaining guests on a porch adjacent to the gunfire. These factors of endangering the public make your crime of manslaughter appropriate for high end of the guidelines.”
According to the Associated Press, Noor has served over 29 months in prison and could be released early for good behavior.
Judges said that Noor’s behavior was directed with particularity at Damond, “and the evidence is, therefore, insufficient to sustain his conviction … for depraved-mind murder.”
Related Story: Third-Degree Murder Charge Against Former Minneapolis Police Officer Mohamed Noor Overturned
In 2017, Noor and his partner were told to report after a woman named Justine Ruszczyk Damond called 911 to call in a rape that she believed was happening close to her house.
At the time of his trial, Noor said that he heard a loud bang by an alley near Damond’s house and that he reacted in fear for him and his partner’s life. Damond then came by his car’s driver’s side window, and Noor shot at her from the passenger’s seat.
Damond’s parents responded to the hearing and asked the judge to impose the harshest sentence, saying, “Our sorrow is forever; our lives will always endure an emptiness.”
Damond’s fiancé, Don Damond, also gave a statement and said, “The truth is Justine should be alive. No amount of justification, embellishment, cover-up, dishonesty, or politics will ever change that truth,” he said.
Don also spoke to Noor directly in his statement and said he forgave him for killing his fiancée and said she would have also chosen to forgive him.
“I’m deeply grateful for Mr. Damond’s forgiveness,” Noor said. “I am deeply sorry for the pain that I’ve caused that family. And I will take his advice and be a unifier. Thank you.”