Mohamed Noor, former Minneapolis police officer, sentenced to 12 ½ years in prison for killing Justine Ruszczyk

Noor went to court to apologize to the family of the woman he shot, Justine Ruszczyk, saying that he would think about her every day.

"It's been two years since I thought and prayed since I took the life of Justine Ruszczyk," Noor said before his sentencing, according to CNN affiliate WCCO. "I've also thought of all the other lives that have been changed and continue to be after this event – no family will ever be the same again."

The state has asked for 150 months, while Noor's lawyers have applied for probation.

"Good people sometimes do bad things," Justice Kathryn Quaintance said before announcing the sentence. She credited Noor for 41 days of service and fined him $ 6,000.

"I was scared"

The authorities said Ruszczyk, who had moved to Minneapolis from his native Australia to live with his fiancé, called 911 on the evening of July 15, 2017, to report a possible sexual assault in an alley behind his house.

Officers Matthew Harrity and Noor were dispatched to the scene and arrived at 11:37 pm, according to a criminal complaint. Prosecutors said Noor was sitting in the passenger seat, pulled out his gun and fired at the vehicle to hit Ruszczyk, who was in front of the driver's door.

During the trial, Noor said that Harrity's terrified expression and Ruszczyk's sight with the show of hands made him go to action. Although he did not see any firearm in the woman's hand, he feared that his partner would be killed while she was starting to raise her hand, did she? -he declares.

On Friday, Noor said in court: "As soon as I pulled the trigger, I was scared, as soon as I walked around and saw Miss Ruszczyk die on the floor. I felt horror.

I miss you every day & # 39;

Noor's lawyer, Peter Wold, told the court "that it is not disputed that Noor reacted because of the fear felt in the half-seconds he reacted and has shot Mrs. Ruszczyk that night. "

But Hennepin County prosecutors argued that Noor had overreacted and failed to properly assess the situation before firing.

On April 20, Noor, a 33-year-old Somali American, was convicted of third-degree murder and manslaughter. He was acquitted of second degree murder.

At the sentencing hearing, Don Damond, Ruszczyk's fiance, read a letter in which he described having cried in a clothing store when he saw his wedding dress a week later. his death.

"I miss you every day, every moment, I do not know how such a thing could happen to us," says Damond, according to WCCO.

Many letters of support to Noor were sent to the Hennepin County Court. None of them was read aloud.