(WBBM NEWSRADIO) — Former Chicago police officer Jason Van Dyke — who fatally shot a Black teen in 2014 — is set to leave prison in a matter of weeks.
In 2018, he was convicted of second-degree murder and aggravated battery in the death of Laquan McDonald. Now, having served three years, three months and nine days of his 81-month sentence, the 43-year-old Van Dyke expected to be released Feb. 3.
Van Dyke declined to appeal his conviction, and his attorneys say his time in prison has been difficult. It has included being roughed up by fellow inmates and constant transfers.
His attorneys say Van Dyke, 43, has no plans to try to return to policing and that he has been training in HVAC.
The Rev. Marvin Hunter, McDonald’s uncle, tells the Chicago Sun-Times he is not wishing additional hardships on the former police officer.
“I’m hoping he’s learned the errors of his ways. I have always asked for justice and not revenge,” Hunter told the paper. “We got as much justice you could get with the players that were there at the time he was on trial. The system needs to be changed, it needs to be overhauled.”
The 2015 release of dash cam video showing Van Dyke shooting McDonald 16 times as the teen encountered police generated a racially charged controversy for then-Mayor Rahm Emanuel, who fired his police superintendent.
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