Man who killed NFL player out of 'self-defense' learns his fate
Former NFL running back Joe McKnight was shot to death in a 2016 “road rage” case that made national headlines.
On the afternoon of Dec. 1 of that year, McKnight was driving his Audi on the Crescent City Connection bridge that spans the Mississippi River and weaving in and out of traffic, according to witnesses.
Authorities say at some point he possibly cut off an Infiniti driven by a man named Ronald Gasser.
That touched off a heated back-and-forth chase that continued for another five miles into Jefferson Parish, southeast of New Orleans.
When they were stopped at the intersection of Behrman Highway and Holmes Boulevard, McKnight got out of his car and approached Gasser’s vehicle.
As he reached the passenger-side window, Gasser fired three shots, killing the 28-year-old McKnight, who was unarmed.
“I feared for my life at that point in time. … I was extremely fearful,” Gasser later told police. “I took the gun off safety and I shot several shots.”
Despite his self-defense argument, he was charged with second-degree murder in McKnight’s death.
On Jan. 26, a Jefferson Parish jury found him guilty of the lesser charge of manslaughter.
Now the 56-year-old Gasser has learned his fate.
On Thursday, Judge Ellen Kovach sentenced him to 30 years in prison, 10 years short of the maximum 40-year term.
“Let this be a cautionary tale to all drivers who rage behind the wheel of their car at other drivers,” Kovach said.
She said McKnight would be alive if either man “had the good sense, the courage and the wisdom to simply disengage.”
Ten years before the 2016 incident, Gasser had been charged with battering another driver near the same intersection where McKnight was killed.
McKnight, a star running back at USC, was selected in the fourth round of the 2010 draft by the New York Jets.
In three seasons with the team, he ran for 502 yards (4.5 per carry) without scoring a touchdown.
The Jets released McKnight in 2013 and he spent that year out of football.
In 2014, he was picked up by the Chiefs and scored twice on passes from Alex Smith in a Sept. 21 game against the Dolphins. But he tore his Achilles in practice the following week, ending his season.
McKnight made a comeback in 2016 in the CFL, and was under contract with the Saskatchewan Roughriders at the time of his death.
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