A 61-year-old Chicago man who was shot 28 times by Chicago police officers in 2005 — and lived to tell his side of the story — was sentenced Thursday to serve 40 years in prison, essentially a life sentence.
Howard Morgan, himself a former Chicago police officer, was sentenced on an attempted murder charge Thursday, theChicago Sun-Times reports.
NBC Chicago’s Michelle Relerford tweeted from the sentencing that Morgan said, “I am in God’s hands” as he awaited Judge Clayton J. Crane’s decision. The Rev. Jesse Jackson, according to Relerford, was also on hand at the scene.
Morgan was off-duty as a detective for the Burlington Northern Santa Fe railroadwhen he was pulled over for driving the wrong way on a one-way street on Feb 21, 2005, the Sun-Times previously reported. While both police and Morgan agree on that much, what happened next is a mystery.
According to police, Morgan opened fire with his service weapon when four white officers tried to arrest him, which caused them to shoot him 28 times. His family disputes the police officers’ account of the altercation.
Thursday, Morgan’s wife Rosalind said, as reported by NBC Chicago, “My heart is very heavy, but I have to maintain my composure because I don’t want them to think they got the best of us.”
Morgan was initially charged with the additional counts of aggravated battery and discharging a weapon at a police officer. Though he was previously acquitted of those charges, a jury found him guilty Friday in a retrial on the attempted murder charge.
Morgan faced a sentence of up to 80 years in prison. A Change.org petitionsigned by nearly 10,000 people to date had called for all charges against Morgan to be dropped.
This story is developing.
To learn more about Howard Morgan’s case, visitFreeHowardMorgan.com.
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