Who Is Ronald Gasser? Joe McKnight's Killer Found Guilty Of Manslaughter

Ronald Gasser, the man who killed NFL player Joe McKnight on Dec 2016 in a road rage incident was found guilty of manslaughter by a jury in New Orleans on Friday.

Gasser, 56, a Gretna telecommunications contractor, was on his way from work when he was cut off by Joe McKnight — who according to witnesses was driving recklessly on the road. Provoked by the incident, Gasser pursued McKnight, which ended in a confrontation and a fatal shooting. During the second degree murder trial, Gasser claimed he shot McKnight in self-defense after the latter appeared agitated as he clambered out of his car to confront Gasser.

McKnight was considered the no 1 running back in the country in 2006 when he graduated from John Curtis Christian School in Louisiana. After graduating from University Of Southern California, he reportedly played for the National Football League (NFL) and The Canadian Football League (CFL). In NFL, he played three seasons with the New York Jets and one with Kansas City Chiefs. In CFl, he played two games for the Edmonton Eskimos and three for the Saskatchewan Roughriders.

Authorities said both Gasser and McKnight drove erratically before a confrontation at a traffic stop in Terrytown. Defense attorney argued Gasser feared for his life when he shot McKnight from his drivers seat. McKnight was reportedly standing by the window on the passenger's side. Gasser admitted that he and the victim gave each other the finger and got into a verbal altercation that resulted in the fatal shooting.

Prosecutors argued that Gasser instigated the whole incident after being cut off by the NFL player and chased him down the road goading McKnight into an altercation.

According to Guardian, prosecutors did not deny McKnight’s driving was aggressive on the road. Responding to the defense allegations that McKnight drove in high speed weaving through the traffic and cutting Gasser and others off on the road, assistant district attorney Seth Shute said, “We do not dispute that he was driving like a jerk.”

However, the prosecution argued that by perceiving NFL player's driving as a challenge, Gasser escalated the incident by trying to cut him off the road. “Mr Gasser thought that Mr McKnight had thrown the gauntlet down,” Shute told jurors, later adding: “He followed him off the exit. That was not his exit.”

During the trial, Gasser alleged that he shot McKnight when he lunged at him. However, the prosecutors quickly shot down the allegations by proving that they didn’t find any gun powder on Mcknight which would be visible if the victim was in close contact with the shooter.

After the trial concluded, defense attorney Matthew Goetz claimed that the jury might have been confused on the vital attributes of the evidence presented to figure out the aggressor in the confrontation. He said "We're obviously disappointed with the verdict."

Judge Ellen Shirer Kovach of 24th Judicial District Court will sentence Gasser on March 15th. He could face upto 40 years in prison. Defense attorney Goetz said he planned to file for an appeal, reports said.