State adds 1st-degree manslaughter charge against former officer Kim Potter

(KSTP) – A first-degree manslaughter charge has now been filed against former Brooklyn Center Police Officer Kim Potter, who had already been charged with second-degree manslaughter in the death of Daunte Wright.

Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison added the charge against Potter on Thursday.

The maximum sentence for first-degree manslaughter is 15 years and a $30,000 fine and for second-degree manslaughter, it’s 10 years and a $20,000 fine.

Body camera video showed Potter yelled, "Taser!" but fired her service weapon, killing the 20-year-old Wright as he tried to get back into his car during a traffic stop in April.

According to a police report filed at the time, Potter said thought she’d grabbed her Taser instead of a gun.

Potter was charged with manslaughter three days after the shooting. In the weeks following the shooting, activists demanded Potter be charged with third-degree murder.

Potter, 48, had been with Brooklyn Center Police for 26 years before she submitted her resignation following the shooting.

Potter’s trial is scheduled to start Nov. 30.