A former Minneapolis policeman sentenced to 12 ½ years in prison for killing Justine Ruszczyk Damond

Former Minneapolis police officer Mohamed Noor was sentenced Friday to 12 ½ years in prison for the deadly murder in 2017 of Australian wife Justine Ruszczyk Damond.

The shooting of July 15, 2017 occurred after Ruszczyk Damond called 911 to report a possible sexual assault in an alley behind his house.

When the police arrived, Ruszczyk Damond approached the driver's side of the police car and Noor, who was in the passenger seat, shot him through the open window on the driver's side, announced the prosecutors.

Craig Lassig / Reuters, FILE

In April, Noor was convicted of third degree murder and manslaughter. He was found not guilty of second degree murder.

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As soon as I pulled the trigger, I was scared.

Speaking in court before reading the sentence, Noor said he had felt "scared" by pulling the trigger. But when he saw Ruszczyk Damond on the floor, "I knew in an instant that I was wrong."

"I caused this tragedy and it's my burden," he said. "I would like to be able to relieve the burden that others feel from the loss that I have caused." I can not and it is a troubling reality for me.I will think about Mrs. Ruszczyk and to his family forever, the only thing I can do is try to live my life in the right direction in the future. "

But the court also heard many people say that Ruszczyk Damond's death had changed their lives forever.

Don Damond, Ruszczyk Damond's fiancé, said in a moving victim's statement that the day of his death was "the last time I felt a sense of happiness, of confidence, and that everything could go well" .

"How can I summarize the pain, the trauma of the past 23 months … How can I provide the court with the impact of a lost future? What would it potentially have? been 30 to 40 years filled with love, family, with joy, laugh, "he said.

Stephen Govel Photography / Reuters, FILE

Damond's son, Zach Damond, who was 22 at the time of the shooting, said his future mother "cared for me and loved me unconditionally".

"We were supposed to be a family for life," he told the court. "I come home to sit with my father and we miss a piece of us."

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I ask this convict for murder to be sentenced to the maximum penalty.

John Ruszczyk, the father of Ruszczyk Damond, asked that Noor be given the maximum sentence and said: "I lost his love, his joy and his laughter."

Noor, a two-year veteran at the time of the shooting, had pleaded not guilty to the charges against him.

Leila Navidi / Star Tribune via AP

Prosecutors argued that the former officer had abused his power to use deadly force and that there was no evidence of a threat when Noor had fired.

Noor's lawyers claimed at the trial that Noor "acted as he had been trained" and that he should never have been charged with a crime.

"The story behind this tragedy really began well before the events that happened in this alley," said Noor's defense lawyer, Thomas Plunkett, on Friday. "Mrs. Ruszczyk was doing her civic duty, she did not deserve that." But he said that the fear that exists between the police and the public was at the origin of what happened that night.

"A prison sentence only punishes Mr. Noor for a crop he did not create," Plunkett said.

Dozens of letters in support of Noor were filed by the defense.

ABC News & Enjolu Francis contributed to this report.