Duante Wright’s grieving mother says the ex-cop who shot her son ‘cursed us forever’ – days before the former officer was released from jail.
Katie Wright has blasted the decision to release Kim Potter after just 16 months. The former cop accidentally shot and killed 20-year-old Duante when she mistook her taser for her gun.
She told the Star Tribune that “Potter’s incarceration was only a moment”, but added: “She cursed us with a life sentence”.
Potter, 50, served his sentence at Shakopee Minnesota Correctional Center and will serve another eight months of probation beginning Monday.
She was seen in a recent frail mug shot more than a year after sobbing during her sentencing for Wright’s murder on April 11, 2020.
Katie Wright (above) blasted the release of ex-cop Kim Potter who shot and killed her son
Kim Potter was seen in a recent mug shot frail and thin more than a year after sobbing during her sentencing trial for Wright’s death on April 11, 2020
Potter shot and killed Wright (above) when she mistook her taser for her gun. At the time of the shooting, Potter and other cops had arrested Wright for driving with expired license tags.
The 26-year-old force veteran claimed she accidentally shot Wright when she grabbed his gun instead of her Taser during a traffic stop above her expired plates in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota.
Potter, who was convicted of first- and second-degree manslaughter in February 2022, received a sentence well below guidelines of about seven years, and the fifteen-year maximum that the state of Minnesota cleared for first degree manslaughter.
Wright’s family criticized the sentence at the time, which was handed down by Judge Regina Chu, who wept when she announced Potter’s punishment last February.
Katie said on Friday that the only comfort she had was knowing that Potter could never be an officer again.
“Even though we didn’t get the accountability we really wanted, she will never be able to confuse a Taser with a gun again for the rest of her life,” she said.
Lead prosecutor Keith Ellison had requested a seven-year sentence and had until May 2022 to appeal Chu’s sentence.
But he accepted the decision and urged others to do the same.
“As Ms. Potter leaves prison, I wish her success in her reintegration, as I do for all people who reintegrate into society after their incarceration,” Ellison said in a statement. “However, my deepest condolences go out to Daunte Wright, his family and his young child who will grow up without a father.”
Potter is shown on surveillance cameras sobbing as she realizes what she’s done
At the time of the shooting, Potter and other cops had arrested Duante for driving with expired license tags, while there was a warrant for his arrest.
Wright tried to run awayprompting Potter to reach for his taser.
In the body camera footage, Potter can be heard repeatedly shouting, “I’m going to taser you!” Taser! Taser! Taser!’
Moments later, she fired a bullet and immediately said, “I grabbed the wrong f****** gun.”
Collapsing on the sidewalk in despair, she cried, “I shot him. Oh my God.’
Chu took pity on the former officer during his sentencing, noting his guilt and calling the shooting an accident. Potter’s own background also resulted in a reduced prison sentence.
During his sentencing, Potter wept as he apologized to Duante’s family.
Watching them in the courtroom, she said, “To the family of Daunte Wright. I’m so sorry for bringing 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 for breaking your heart. My heart is broken for you all.
During Potter’s sentencing, Katie told him she would never forgive him and asked Judge Regina Chu not to show leniency.
Potter was a 26-year veteran of the Force and Chu took pity on her due to her contrition and clean criminal record.
But Katie looked directly at Potter, telling him she would never forgive him and asking Judge Regina Chu not to be lenient.
“She left our world with so much darkness and sorrow.
“The best way to explain is that I feel the sinking feeling every day that a mother feels when she realizes her child is missing in a grocery store and you can’t see it, smell it, know if it’s is safe. Daunte was only 20. He had so much life ahead of him.
“She took our little boy with a single shot to the heart and she shattered mine. She took her future.
She added: “For this I can never forgive you. I can never forgive you for what you stole from us.