Florida cop sentenced to 25 years for fatal shooting of Black musician
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Nouman Raja, a former Florida policeman, was handed a 25-year prison sentence for killing a Black musician whose car had broken down on the side of the highway.
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On Thursday, Raja, 41, was sentenced for fatally killing Corey Jones in 2015. He was convicted by a jury of manslaughter and attempted murder March 7.
The case marked the first time in 30 years that an off-duty police officer in the state of Florida has received a conviction in such a shooting, National Public Radio reported.
Raja is a former Palm Beach Gardens police officer who was in plainclothes as he investigated an auto burglary investigation when he spotted Jones’ SUV at 3:15 a.m. on Oct. 18, 2015, The Daily Mail reports.
Jones was on the phone with a tow truck dispatcher because his vehicle had stalled, according to NPR.
Raja never identified himself as a police officer, and in the recording, he is heard using an expletive as he tells Jones to raise his hands.
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Shots are heard two seconds later.
Prosecutors argued that Raja never announced that he was a cop and was so aggressive that Jones had to think his life was in danger and that he was about to be carjacked or killed.
“This has been a heart-breaking case,” Circuit Judge Joseph Marx said before the sentencing.
“The truth always wins in the end,” Jones’ father, Clinton Jones Sr., previously told CNN.
“The sweetest sound was the click of those handcuffs,” a Jones’ family members told reporters outside the courtroom.
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