Minnesota cop who killed Duante Wright when she mistook her taser for her gun will be RELEASED
Former Minnesota policewoman Kim Potter who shot and killed Daunte Wright when she mistook her taser for her handgun is released from prison after serving a 16-month sentence.
Potter, 50, has served her sentence at Shakopee Minnesota Correctional Facility and will begin serving another eight months of probation starting Monday.
She was seen in a recent mugshot looking frail and gaunt more than a year after she sobbed during her sentencing trial for Wright’s death on April 11, 2020.
The 26-year-old corps veteran claimed she accidentally shot Wright when she reached for her pistol instead of her taser during a traffic stop over his expired license plates in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota.
Potter, who was convicted of first- and second-degree manslaughter in February 2022, received a sentence well below the guidelines of about seven years, and the 15-year maximum the state of Minnesota allows for first-degree manslaughter.
Kim Potter was seen in a recent mugshot looking frail and gaunt over a year after she sobbed during her sentencing trial for Daunte Wright’s death on April 11, 2020
Kim Potter shot and killed Daunte Wright when she mistook her taser for her gun. At the time of the shooting, Potter and other officers had pulled Wright over for driving with expired license plates
At the time of the shooting, Potter and other officers had pulled Wright over for driving with expired license plates.
There was a warrant out for his arrest at the time and he tried to drive away from them, which is why Potter reached for her taser.
In bodycam footage, Potter can be heard yelling repeatedly, “I’ll tase you!” Taser! Taser! taser!’
Moments later, she fired a bullet and immediately said, “I took the wrong f****** gun.”
In desperation, she fell to the curb and said, “I shot him. Oh my God.’
During Potter’s sentencing, Judge Regina Chu took pity on the former officer noticing her guilt and calling the shooting an accident. Potter’s clean background also resulted in her shorter time in prison.
It was never her intention to hurt anyone. Her behavior cries out for a punishment well below guidelines,” Chu said in court.
At her sentencing, Potter cried as she apologized to Wright’s family, focusing on his mother, Katie.
Looking at them in court, she said, “To Daunte Wright’s family. I am so sorry that I brought the death of your son, father, brother, uncle and the rest of your family.
“To your mother Katie, I understand a mother’s love and I’m sorry I broke your heart. My heart is broken for all of you,” she sobbed.
But the victim’s mother, Katie, looked straight at Potter when she told her she would “never forgive” her and asked Judge Regina Chu not to show clemency.
“She left our world with so much darkness and heartache.
“The best way I can explain it is that every day I feel the downcast feeling that a mother gets when she realizes her child is missing from a grocery store and you can’t see him, feel him, know if he’s safe. Daunte was only 20. He still had so much of his life ahead of him.
“She took our little boy with a single shot through the heart and shattered mine. She took his future.
Katie continued, “I’ll never be able to forgive you for that. I will never be able to forgive you for what you stole from us.
The 26-year-old force veteran claimed she accidentally shot Wright when she reached for her gun instead of her taser during a traffic stop over his expired license plates in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota
Potter is shown sobbing on surveillance cameras as she realizes what she has done
Kim Potter burst into tears when she addressed the Minneapolis court during her sentencing last year. She apologized to Daunte Wright’s family
At her sentencing, Potter cried as she apologized to Wright’s family, focusing on his mother, Katie. In the photo: Daunte Wright
After Potter’s sentencing trial in 2022, there was a courtroom havoc against supporters of Potter and Wright.
Diamond Wright, Daunte’s sister, was handcuffed. There were confused reports that she had been feuding with Chyna Whitaker, the mother of Daunte’s two-year-old son. Some reported that she was trying to protect Whitaker from someone else’s attack.
Potter spent the past year in a five-story prison about 25 miles southwest of downtown Minneapolis
The facility cares for approximately 650 female inmates and offers a variety of in-prison programs designed to assist with rehabilitation, according to Prison Society. The prisoners are invited to take part in 5 km runs, continue their education and strengthen their relationship with God.
Promotional materials show inmates studying, sewing and planting products that are then donated to community members in need. One inmate is even trying to get a law degree while behind bars.
The facility is also the first prison to offer a pipeline program that allows inmates behind bars to earn a law degree.
The prison also offers inmates opportunities to further their education and pursue their professional dreams.
Potter will serve her sentence at the Minnesota Correctional Facility – Shakopee, a facility that cares for approximately 650 female inmates and offers a variety of in-prison programs designed to aid in rehabilitation. Pictured: Shakopee inmates in a classroom