Mohamed Noor Sentenced to 12.5 Years For Killing Justine Damond

Justine Damond

On June 7, 2019, former Minneapolis police officer Mohamed Noor was sentenced to 12 1/2 years for killing Justine Damond.

In April, Noor was found guilty of third-degree murder and manslaughter. He was found not guilty second-degree murder.

 

ABC  news reports

Speaking in court before the sentence was read, Noor said that he had felt “fear” as he pulled the trigger. But when he saw Ruszczyk Damond on the ground, “I knew in an instant that I was wrong.”

“I caused this tragedy and it is my burden,” he said. “I wish though that I could relieve that burden others feel from the loss that I caused. I cannot and that is a troubling reality for me. I will think about Ms. Ruszczyk and her family forever. The only thing I can do is try to live my life in a good way going forward.”

Justine had called 911 after hearing screams in the back of the building where she lived.  She waited for the police and approached the police car when it arrived.  She was unarmed.  Noor shot Justine through the open driver’s side window, although he was sitting in the passenger’s seat and his partner did not see any threat.   Justine was in her pajamas.

Fox News reports;

“The defendant fired his gun over the body of his partner,” Lofton told the court at sentencing. “He did that in a residential neighborhood. He did that without saying a word. He did that despite Ms. Rusczyzk not saying a word. He did that despite the fact that she had nothing in her hands but a cell phone.”

 

Mohamed Noor Found Guilty For the Killing Of Justine Damond

Just a point made at trial.  The allegation that Justine banged on the police car was refuted by forensic evidence that found none of her fingerprints or DNA on the police car.

Abagond

Officer Noor with family members in 2016.

Mohamed Noor (1985- ) in 2015 became the first Somali American police officer in Minneapolis, Minnesota. In 2019 he became the first police officer in Minnesota, of any race or ethnicity, found guilty of a crime for an on-duty police shooting.

Like Ilhan Omar, Noor came to Minneapolis in the 1990s as a child when his family fled the war in Somalia.

On the night of July 15th 2017, Justine Damond (nee Ruszczyk), a 40-year-old White woman, called police to report what sounded like a rape behind her house. As Noor tells it, when he and Officer Matthew Harrity arrived in a police car in the alley behind her house, there was a loud bang and then Damond suddenly appeared at Harrity’s open window. Her right arm was raised. Harrity said “Oh Jesus!” as he tried to draw his gun.

Noor:

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Updates on Trials and More

John Hernandez

Hello good people.  I’ve been unable to follow trials and news daily to write blog posts about them.  As it stands now, I’m unsure if and when I’ll return to writing blog posts on a regular basis.  My last chemo treatment is scheduled for February, and then I’ll be on targeted immunotherapy for a year, so we’ll see how I’ll feel come March of next year.

There is much happeningand I wanted to bullet point some things. As and if time allows, I’ll post updates in the comment section below.   Feel free to do the same.

Terry Thompson and his wife Chauna were charged with murder for the May 28, 2017, choke-hold death of John Hernandez in Crosby, Texas.  Terry was put on trial in July 2018 and the jury hung.  His retrial began in October 2018.  The jury found Terry guilty and sentenced him to 25 years.  Chauna’s trial is scheduled to begin on March 26, 2019.  For background on this case, see this link.

 

Brennan Walker

Jeffrey Zeigler, who fired a shotgun at 14-year old Brennan Walker, has been sentenced to 4 to 10 years in prison.  A jury found Zeigler guilty of assault with intent to do great bodily harm and possession of a firearm in the commission of a felony.  For background info on this case, click here.