Scumbag cop got exactly what he deserved ; Essentially a life sentence. It wasn’t only that he opened fire, but he had to lie about and fall back on the “Feared for his life” defense. That’s just how heartbroken he is.     Not just that, but I love the way the defense attorney attempts to return him to hero status ” For more than a decade, Jonathan Goins told the court, Stafford “was putting his life on the line each and every night” while “we’ve been sleeping in our beds.”    Yeah, right. You never know when a 5 Yr. old Autistic kid may open fire on you.    It is more likely that he put his lies on the line every night.   Pulling over drunks and old ladies sure is some hazardous duty. Sounds to me like he was simply pissed because the driver would not submit to his authority and ended up killing the kid.        This shit is not for free anymore. If LEO has not figured it out; enough is enough. They are making war against the citizens that they are sworn to protect and the rubber is ready to hit the road.  People are up in arms, prosecutors are finally prosecuting and judges are handing out prohibitive sentences.       Put your life on the line? Keep shooting innocent and unarmed people and it will be. Just like Officer Stafford ; a life for a life. LEO has brought this on itself and it is going to take quite a bit to undo it.

“MARKSVILLE — Former Marksville deputy marshal Derrick Stafford was sentenced to 40 years in prison Friday, a week after an Avoyelles Parish jury found the 33-year-old former policeman guilty in the fatal shooting of a 6-year-old boy and the wounding of the boy’s father.

Stafford, who apologized to the boy’s father and asked for leniency, was convicted of manslaughter in the death of Jeremy Mardis, an autistic first grader, and attempted manslaughter in the wounding of Chris Few, the boy’s 26-year-old father.

But Judge William Bennett, who presided over the week-long trial, decided to impose the four-decade sentence — the maximum for manslaughter, and a prison term Stafford’s attorneys described at the hearing as essentially a life sentence — after reading an eight-page statement from the bench.

Bennett called Stafford “a good man” but described the hail of gunfire unleashed by Stafford and a fellow deputy, Norris Greenhouse Jr., at the end of a two-mile pursuit on Nov. 3, 2015, as “a senseless tragedy” for which Stafford was justly convicted.

“The shooting simply should never have happened,” Bennett said.

Stafford, shackled and wearing an orange jail jumpsuit, reiterated that he never knew the child was in the car and expressed remorse for the boy’s death. While standing before the judge, Stafford turned and, looking directly at Few, apologized for the shooting and the loss of Few’s son. “I have kids, man,” he said.

But Stafford continued to maintain that Few posed a threat when Stafford opened fire on his small SUV at the end of the chase.

“I did believe there was a threat and I tried to stop it,” Stafford said.

Both Stafford and his attorneys also stressed his 13-year law enforcement career during the sentencing hearing. For more than a decade, Jonathan Goins told the court, Stafford “was putting his life on the line each and every night” while “we’ve been sleeping in our beds.”