Chicago cop: I will live with killing for rest of my life
CHICAGO — The Chicago police officer who fatally shot Laquan McDonald acknowledged the teenager’s death Friday, telling a judge at his sentencing that “the taking of a human life is not to be taken lightly.”
“As a God-fearing man and father, I will have to live with this the rest of my life,” Jason Van Dyke said moments have attorneys on both sides made their final statements in the case that has centered on a shocking dashcam video made pub- lic more than three years ago.
Earlier, several motorists testified that the officer who fatally shot Laquan McDonald used excessive force during traffic stops in the years before the 2014 shooting.
Van Dyke was in court to be sentenced for second-degree murder and 16 counts of aggravated battery — one for each bullet he fired. He faces at least several years in prison, if not decades, after being convicted in October.
Friday’s testimony came a day after a different judge acquitted three officers accused of trying to conceal what happened to protect Van Dyke, who was the first Chicago officer found guilty in an on-duty shooting in a half century and probably the first ever in the shooting of an African-American.
At the sentencing, McDonald’s uncle read a letter written from the slain teen’s perspective, telling the court that Van Dyke killed him without provocation.
“I am a 17-year-old boy, and I am a victim of murder,” Marvin Hunter said. “I am unable to speak in my own voice” because an officer “thought he would become judge, jury and executioner.”
In asking for a long sentence, Hunter added: “Why should this person who ended my life forever ... who has never asked for forgiveness ... be free when I am dead for forever?”
Van Dyke’s wife said her life has been “a nightmare” since her husband was charged. She said she was denied a job and her daughter was not accepted into a dance group because of their last name.
If Van Dyke goes to prison, she said, her biggest fear is that “somebody will kill my husband for something he did as a police officer, something he was trained to do.”
She looked up over her shoulder and addressed the judge directly: “His life is over. Please, please. He has paid the price already ... I beg for the least amount of time.”
During her testimony, Van Dyke wiped his nose and eyes with a tissue while seated at the defense table in a yellow jail jumpsuit.
One of his daughters blamed the media for shaming police officers “for doing their jobs.”
Kaylee Van Dyke, also 17, said the media “twists events, making people create negative thoughts.” She said police officers don’t care about people’s color, “they care about your safety.”