Joe McKnight’s accused killer to stand trial Aug. 7
19th June 2017 · 0 Comments
Ronald Gasser, the Jefferson Parish man accused of fatally shooting former NFL star and John Curtis High School standout Joe McKnight in Terrytown during a road-rage incident last December, will stand trial for second-degree murder beginning August 7.
According to police reports, the two men encountered one another on the Crescent City Connection bridge on December 1 after McKnight allegedly cut off Gasser, prompting the latter to follow McKnight about six miles to Terrytown, where McKnight was fatally shot by the 55-year-old after approaching Gasser’s car.
The shooting took place at the intersection of Behrman Highway and Holmes Boulevard, authorities Gasser remained at the scene until Jefferson Parish sheriff’s deputies arrived but was not initially arrested.
The killing of the 28-year-old former New York Jets running back made national and international headlines because it was the second road-rage incident in 2016 that led to the fatal shooting of a former NFL player. Nine months earlier, former New Orleans Saints defensive standout Will Smith was killed by Cardell Hayes in the Garden District shortly after Smith’s car made contact with the vehicle driven by Hayes.
Members of the public, including Mcknight’s loved ones, former coaches and former NFL and college teammates were angered by Jefferson Parish Sheriff Newell Normand’s decision to not immediately arrest Gasser, who reportedly was involved in another road-rage incident a decade ago.
The McKnight case took on a racial tone and some in the community questioned whether the fact that Gasser is white had anything to do with the decision to not immediately arrest him.
The sheriff’s critics took their case to social media, where they attacked Black ministers who defended Sheriff Normand.
An angry Sheriff Normand responded by holding a press conference during which he read emails and postings that used the N-word to describe his Black supporters and essentially dared his critics to cross the line during a planned protest near the scene of the shooting.
The family asked the community to not break any laws in the hame of Joe McKnight and the candlelight vigil went off without any disturbances.
Gasser was arrested four days after the shooting and was initially charged with manslaughter. After an investigation by the Jefferson Parish District Attorney’s Office and the JPSO, D.A. Paul Connick announced that the charge was being upgraded to second-degree murder.
Attorneys for Gasser contend that their client was defending himself when he fatally shot McKnight, while attorneys for the family of Joe McKnight point out that Gasser followed the former NFL star for six miles before killing him.
Specifically, Gasser’s attorney contend that McKnight was the aggressor and that at the time of the incident he was under the influence of anabolic steroids, marijuana and pain medication/ The insist that it was McKnight’s “violent and erratic behavior” that prompted their client to pull out a gun and use deadly force to defend himself.
The Aug. 7 trial date was set last Monday by Judge Ellen Kovach of the 24th Judicial District Court during a status hearing.
A motions hearing will be held July 14.
This article originally published in the June 19, 2017 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper.
