Michael Jace Found Guilty of Murdering Wife
A Los Angeles jury convicted actor Michael Jace of murder Tuesday for the May 2014 shooting death of his wife.
The 53-year old actor fatally shot his wife three times in their home. Prosecutors said April Jace was in the process of seeking a divorce at the time. They say Michael Jace deliberately loaded his gun and took aim at his 40-year old wife in front of their two young children. April was reportedly shot at such close range, death investigators found gunpowder where the bullets hit her legs.
Jace later told cops he only meant to shoot her in the leg because he was angry with her. Defense lawyer Jamon Hicks admitted that his client shot his wife once in the back and then twice in the legs but said Friday that his client simply “snapped” in the heat of passion; for that reason, they wanted the jury to convict him of voluntary manslaughter.
“I don’t know how you can shoot somebody three times and call it an accident,” Los Angeles County Deputy District Attorney Tannaz Mokayef told jurors in closing arguments Friday. He also told the jury that their 10-year old son Nehemiah’s testimony proved it was “premeditated.” “Then my dad said, ‘If you like running, run to heaven,’ and then he shot her,” the boy told the jury.
Text messages and testimony during the trial revealed Jace was upset about his crumbling marriage and believed April was having an affair. In her emotional closing argument, Mokayef again showed the graphic photo of April’s lifeless body on the floor of the couple’s house after she was declared dead at the scene.
The jury of six women and six men handed down their verdict after a weeklong trial that ended Friday. Jace was found guilty of second-degree murder, according to the Associated Press.
The actor, best known for playing a cop on the FX show “The Shield,” didn’t react when the verdict was read in court.