A white former police officer in Oklahoma has been sentenced to 15 years in prison for the fatal off-duty shooting of his daughter’s black boyfriend.
Former Tulsa officer Shannon Kepler was convicted last month of first-degree manslaughter in the 2014 slaying of 19-year-old Jeremey Lake.
His sentencing comes after four trials spanning nearly a year, including three that resulted in hung juries.
Tulsa County District Court Judge Sharon Holmes also issued Kepler with a $15,000 fine during his sentencing on Monday.
Former Tulsa officer Shannon Kepler (above in June) was sentenced on Monday to 15 years in prison for the fatal 2014 off-duty shooting of his daughter’s black boyfriend
Kepler’s lawyers said the 24-year police veteran was trying to protect his daughter because she had run away from home and was living in a crime-ridden neighborhood.
The officer, who retired from the force after he was charged, told investigators that Lake was armed and that he shot him in self-defense.
Police never found a weapon on Lake or at the scene, and several neighbors testified that they didn’t see a gun either.
Lisa Kepler was 18 years old when she met Lake while he was volunteering at a homeless shelter where she was staying.
She told the court her parents dropped her off at the shelter in July 2014 after she had been sneaking out at night and acting out.
Kepler was an off-duty 24-year-police veteran at the time when he shot 19-year-old Jeremey Lake who was walking with his daughter Lisa Kepler on August 5, 2014
Kepler was convicted last month of first-degree manslaughter in the 2014 slaying of 19-year-old Jeremey Lake
After a few weeks, Lake offered her a place to stay at the home he shared with his aunt, she testified.
Lisa said on the day of the shooting, she and Lake were passing out water bottles to the homeless before walking back to his aunt’s home. She testified that she noticed her father’s SUV parked out front and that he started asking her questions.
Kepler, who retired from the force after he was charged, told investigators that Lake (above) was armed and that he shot him in self-defense
She told the court her father asked what she was doing in the neighborhood, but she couldn’t remember how she responded.
Lake’s aunt said her nephew was reaching out to shake Kepler’s hand to introduce himself when Kepler fired his weapon.
Kepler killed Lake days before the fatal shooting of an unarmed black 18-year-old by a white police officer in Ferguson, Missouri, fanned a national debate over the treatment of minorities by law enforcement.
A single black juror was seated for each of Kepler’s four trials, and civil rights activists accused Kepler’s lawyers of purposely trying to exclude potential black candidates, a charged that they denied.
The first three juries deadlocked 11-1, 10-2 and 6-6, forcing the judge to declare mistrials. Prosecutors said after the drawn-out case finally ended with a conviction last month that it took so long because many citizens are reluctant to send a law enforcement officer to prison.
Oklahoma law sets out a minimum sentence of four years for the charge but has no maximum term, leaving it up to Holmes to decide on the final punishment. Jurors had recommended a 15-year term.
Pictured above is the young couple’s Facebook relationship status the day Lake was killed