A white former South Carolina police officer has been sentenced to 19 to 24 years for the 2015 death of Walter Scott. The case drew national attention as the former police officer was filmed as he shot a fleeing, unarmed black man in the back
In the ruling delivered today, U.S. District Judge David Norton found that Ex-North Charleston patrolman Michael Slager had committed second-degree murder and obstruction of justice. Norton’s decision was delivered after Slager pleaded guilty to a federal civil rights offense.
Clutching a photograph of his father, Miles Scott said he has had trouble sleeping ever since his father’s death, according to The Times-Picayune, and said he misses watching football games with his dad and can’t fathom not being able to watch with him the game they both loved.
“I miss my father every day,” Miles Scott said through tears. “I would like you to sentence the defendant to the strongest sentence the laws allows because he murdered my one and only father.”
Slager fired eight times at Scott’s back, hitting him five times, after the motorist fled a traffic stop for a broken brake light. A bystander recorded the shooting on his cell phone.
