Louisiana man sentenced to 30 years in killing of former NFL back Joe McKnight
The Louisiana man convicted of killing New York Jets and Kansas City Chiefs running back Joe McKnight was sentenced to 30 years in prison on Thursday.
Ronald Gasser was convicted of manslaughter in January and faced up to 40 years.
Jefferson Parish Judge Ellen Kovach sentenced Gasser to 30 years for McKnight’s death after a 2016 incident.
“Let this be a cautionary tale to all driver who rage behind the wheel of their car at other drivers,” Kovach said, via Nola.com. If either man “had the good sense, the courage and wisdom to simply disengage,” the tragedy may have been avoided, she added.
Gasser and McKnight had a roadside confrontation after a 5-mile car chase during which they shouted obscenities at each other; prosecutors allege Gasser was the aggressor, but Gasser claimed self-defense in shooting McKnight multiple times.
Prosecutors poked holes in Gasser’s claim that McKnight had put his hands on the gunman’s car, noting the lack of gunpowder burns that would have been on McKnight’s skin had he been shot at close range.
During the reading of victim impact statements, McKnight’s mother, Jennifer, told Gasser, “You took my child from me. My child. Everybody says Joe McKnight, the football player. But he’s Joe McKnight, my son.”
She left the courtroom sobbing.
McKnight, a fourth-round draft pick out of USC in 2010, was a high school star in Louisiana before his standout career with the Trojans and career in the NFL.
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