McKnight killer sentenced to 30 years
Ronald Gasser, who was convicted of manslaughter in the 2016 road rage shooting death of former NFL running back Joe McKnight, was sentenced to 30 years in prison on Thursday.
McKnight played four seasons in the NFL with the New York Jets and Kansas City Chiefs from 2010 to 2014.
Gasser faced up to 40 years in prison but lawyers argued on his behalf that the 56-year-old Gasser fired a gun in self-defense when McKnight walked up to his car at the end of a five-mile vehicular confrontation near Jefferson Parrish that began on a bridge over the Mississippi River in New Orleans.
The jury voted 10-2 for a lesser manslaughter charge after Gasser was originally indicted on second-degree murder charges.
According to witness testimony, McKnight was weaving through traffic at high speeds before the shooting.
Prosecutors said Gasser escalated the conflict by chasing McKnight to and off of an exit Gasser would not have otherwise taken.
McKnight had one hand on the open, passenger side window of Gasser's car before he was shot.
McKnight was a high school star at Louisiana's John Curtis Christian School and signed with the University of Southern California in 2006 as one of the elite running back recruits in the nation.
--Field Level Media
