Ronald Gasser, the 55-year-old white man who shot and killed NFL player Joe McKnight, was officially charged with second-degree murder earlier today (Feb. 3). Gasser was initially booked on manslaughter charges after shooting McKnight dead last December during a road rage incident, but a Lousiana grand jury moved with the more serious charge.
The Edwardsville Intelligencer reports:
The man suspected of fatally shooting former NFL player Joe McKnight has been indicted on a second-degree murder charge by a grand jury, the Jefferson Parrish District Attorney’s Office said Thursday.
If convicted of the charge Ronald Gasser Jr., faces life in prison at hard labor, “without benefit of parole, probation or suspension of sentence,” the district attorney’s office said.
Gasser is suspected of fatally shooting McKnight, who played for the New York Jets and Kansas City Chiefs, in an apparent road rage incident in Terrytown, Louisiana, on Dec. 1. McKnight was 28.
Gasser had previously been arrested for manslaughter. However, the district attorney’s office said, the second-degree murder indictment resulted from additional evidence developed jointly by the Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office and the Jefferson Parish District Attorney’s Office.
The indictment raised Gasser’s bail from $500,000 to $750,00.
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Photo: Jefferson Parish PD
