because judge deems the ex-Wake Forest basketball coach had a 'positive impact' on community

A New York City judge has sentenced a former Wake Forest University assistant basketball coach to three years of probation with no jail time in the one-punch death of a tourist from Florida.

Jamill C. Jones, 37, was sentenced on Thursday for third-degree assault in the August 2018 homicide of 35-year-old Sandor Szabo in Queens. He had faced a maximum of one year in jail. Judge Joanne B. Watters explained in her ruling that a jail sentence would 'would only serve to punish Mr. Jones,' adding 'it is my opinion that Mr. Jones is repentant.'

Watters cited the 'the positive impact Mr Jones has had on his community,' which according to his attorney, Eric Renfroe, included mentoring young black girls without fathers.

The ruling came as a shock to Szabo's family, including his mother Donna Kent, who delivered a stirring, tearful impact statement at the sentencing hearing, which was conducted over video-conference after months of delays due to the pandemic.

'He will always be a murderer, a coward,' Kent said in the statement. 'No parent should ever have to endure this kind of torture.'

Poster Comment:

Killer is black. Victim is white. New York Justice.