Former Palm Beach Gardens police officer Nouman Raja has been sentenced to 25 years in prison in the 2015 shooting death of a stranded motorist, court records show.
Raja was convicted of manslaughter while armed with a firearm and attempted first-degree murder in the death of Corey Jones last month in a Palm Beach County court.
On Thursday, he was sentenced to 25 years on each count and his sentence will be served concurrently.
The former officer was on duty but was wearing street clothes and was driving and unmarked car when he came upon Jones. The 31-year-old drummer was heading home after playing a gig when his car broke down on a highway off-ramp early on October 18, 2015.
He was on the phone with a roadside assistance operator when Raja approached his car, according to a probable cause affidavit.
Defense attorneys argued that Raja fired his weapon after Jones pointed a gun at him, while prosecutors claimed Jones thought he was being robbed because Raja did not identify himself as an officer, CNN affiliate WPBF reported.
Raja fired six shots, hitting Jones with three of them, CNN affiliate WPTV reported. Benjamin Crump, the family lawyer, told CNN that Jones never fired his gun and had tried to run away.
Jones’ death is among several controversial police shootings in recent years that have sparked protests nationwide and raised questions about race and policing. Jones was black and Raja is Indian-American.
