Man who killed former Rider Joe McKnight gets 30 years

It’s 30 years for the man who killed former Roughrider Joe McKnight.

Ronald Gasser shot and killed McKnight after a road rage incident in a New Orleans suburb in December of 2016.

Gasser was charged with second-degree murder in McKnight’s death, but the jury convicted him of the lesser charge of manslaughter in January after seven hours of deliberations.

According to reports from NOLA.com, McKnight’s mother Jennifer sobbed during victim impact statements in the court Thursday.

“You took my child from me. My child,” she said. “Everybody says Joe McKnight, the football player. But he’s Joe McKnight, my son.”

The court also heard from McKnight’s sister, the mother of McKnight’s nine-year-old son Jaden and a family friend.

“Let this be a cautionary tale to all driver who rage behind the wheel of their car at other drivers,” the judge said at the sentencing. The tragedy could have been avoided if either man “had the good sense, the courage, and the wisdom to simply disengage.”

The mutual road rage incident between the two men last five miles — eight kilometres — and ended as McKnight approached Gasser’s car at a red light and Gasser shot him three times, killing him.

Gasser is expected to appeal his guilty verdict.