Actor Michael Jace appears at an arraignment hearing for a murder charge in Los Angeles Superior Court in Los Angeles, California, United States on May 22, 2014.
Advertisement
Ramirez said family members of the victim, April Jace, gave emotional statements in court on Friday.
In case you missed it, on Friday, June 10, Michael Jace, best known for his role on “The Shield” was sentenced to 40 years in prison for fatally shooting his wife, April Jace, last April in front of their two sons, who were 8 and 5 at the time, in their Los Angeles home.
Jace apologised to the family and said there was no justification for his actions. “I am profoundly sorry for the pain that I’ve caused everyone”. But I thought it was important (to say) that I didn’t commit first-degree murder.
“I was just angry”, Jace said.
Henry addressed the court before Jace did, weeping as she talked about her daughter, saying the night she was killed, “we both died”. “I think about how my grandsons will navigate their teen years…”
April Jace’s mother told the judge that she “cried for hours after her death” and still cries during numerous activities, including worship at church, holidays, her birthday and May 19th – the anniversary of her daughter’s death.
Henry also spoke of nightmares that plague her. I realize it doesn’t bring her back.
The judge then handed down the maximum sentence. Jace also called 911 and stated, “I shot my wife”.
Monique Lejay, who is raising the couple’s two young sons, noted that the boys “lost their mother and their father”. His attorney, Jamon Hicks, told jurors that Jace “snapped” and shot his wife in the heat of passion.
“Who is going to argue this is not an intent to kill?” she asked. Mokayef said. “Where else is heaven?”
The prosecutor said the couple exchanged 164 text messages the day of the shooting, telling jurors that Jace’s wife wrote one text message that she was “afraid to come home” and that her husband had engaged in “trickery to make her believe he wasn’t home”.
Jace’s attorney did not respond to a request for comment after the sentencing hearing. April Jace, 40, was a financial aid counselor at Biola University.
Advertisement
The sentence means that he must serve at least 40 years behind bars before he can be considered for parole.
