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Rabat – Terry Turner, the man who deliberately shot and killed Adil Dghoughi, an unarmed Moroccan citizen in Texas, received a six month sentence in a controversial court verdict on Monday.
News outlet San Antonio Express-News said that Tuner will spend 180 days in Caldwell County jail, and will serve 10 years of probation.
The defendant will spend 40 days in four-day increments each year of the 10-year probation, including on the anniversary of the day when he shot Dghoughi and on the victim’s birthday.
He was also fined $10,000 for fatally shooting Dghoughi, a 31-year-old Moroccan migrant.
Adil Dghoughi’s tragic killing made headlines in 2021, when news came out that he was killed in cold blood by Turner.
Turner shot the migrant unprovoked, for merely parking his car near his residence.
The light sentence comes despite US law dictating between two years and 20 years in prison for manslaughter.
The sentence has sparked uproar, with many decrying the double standard shown in a case where a white American killed an unarmed migrant.
The Austin Chronicle, a progressive alternative newspaper, called the sentence “an interesting one.”
The Austin American Statesman reported on Sunday that four jurors wanted the maximum sentence of 20 years in prison against the perpetrator.
Three jurors, however, wanted probation while the rest were somewhere in between.
“Multiple jurors cried when they entered the courtroom Nov.3 to announce that Turner would be sentenced to a $10,000 fine and up to 10 years of probation,” the news outlet wrote.
A juror, speaking to the outlet, said one reason the jury reached the sentence was because they were urged by Assistant District Attorney Amanda Montgomery to reach a decision even if it meant giving Turner probation.
“I think about it every day — about, what if it was my child?” the juror said. “Sometimes I can’t get to sleep or have a good night’s sleep because … I think about what his family goes through.”
Meanwhile, Othmane Dghoughi, the victim’s younger brother, questioned why Montgomery even suggested the possibility of probation to the jury.
Statesman said that Turner, who initially faced first-degree murder charges, claimed self-defense.
He claimed that “multiple people were breaking into his home when he saw Dghoughi’s car in his driveway.”
However, testimonies emphasized that Dghoughi backed away, while the shooter chased after him with his gun. He also used the gun to bang on the driver’s window before shooting and killing him.
Dghoughi had also spent only a few minutes in the driveway.
“Prosecutors and family members believed he was lost,” the news outlet added.
Dghoughi migrated to the US in 2013 after graduating from the International Institute of Higher Education in Morocco.
The shooting has raised several questions about shootings in the US as well as the Texas Penal Code.
The state is one of several in the US that adopts what are commonly known as “Stand Your Ground” laws.
This provides that any individual with a gun permit can use deadly force when “they reasonably believe” that it is necessary for self-defense.
According to Chapter 9 of the Texas Penal Code, an individual has the right to self-defense “to the degree the actor reasonably believes the force is immediately necessary to protect the actor against the other’s use or attempted use of unlawful force.”
