Sentence for Minneapolis Cop Who Killed 911 Caller Cut By More Than Half

Mohamed Noor, a Minneapolis police officer who fatally shot an unarmed woman after she called 911 to report a possible rape happening behind her home, has been sentenced to nearly five years in prison — the most the judge could impose but less than half the 12½ years he was sentenced to for his murder conviction that was overturned last month, reports the Associated Press.

The Minnesota Supreme Court tossed out Noor’s third-degree murder conviction, who was also convicted of manslaughter for the fatal shooting of Justine Ruszczyk Damond, a 40-year-old dual U.S.-Australian citizen and yoga teacher who was engaged to be married, saying the third-degree murder statute didn’t fit the case because it can only apply when a defendant shows a “generalized indifference to human life,” not when the conduct is directed at a particular person, as it was with Damond. Judge Kathryn Quaintance, who also presided at Noor’s trial, granted prosecutors’ request to impose the maximum sentence in state guidelines on Noor’s manslaughter conviction, 57 months. In doing so, she brushed aside the defense’s request for 41 months, which is the low end of the range. With good behavior, Noor could be freed on supervised release by summer 2022.