Louisiana man gets life sentence for apparently random murder of Black man

Baton Rouge, Louisiana — A white Louisiana man has received a life sentence for the apparently random killing of a Black man in a park. He also is accused of killing another Black man at a bus stop and firing into the home of a Black family as part of a string of attacks that police said may have been racially motivated.

Kenneth Gleason was found guilty of first-degree murder in April for the killing of Donald Smart, The Advocate reported. Smart, 49, was shot in a park near Louisiana State University as he was walking to his overnight shift as a restaurant dishwasher in September 2017.   The 27-year-old was also charged in the fatal shooting of Bruce Cofield, 59, a homeless man who was sitting at a bus stop on a busy street in Baton Rouge two days before Smart was killed. Evidence was presented during the trial that Gleason fired gunshots through the front door of the only Black family that lived on the same suburban street as him and his parents.   After consulting with Smart's family, prosecutors decided not to seek the death penalty. That meant the only sentence that could be imposed on Gleason's first-degree murder conviction was a mandatory life term. District Judge Beau Higginbotham said the death penalty would have been the "appropriate sentence," according to the newspaper.   "There's nothing the penal system can do to rehabilitate you, Mr. Gleason," he said at the Monday sentencing hearing.   Law enforcement officials have said they believe the two killings were random. Both men were on the side of the road at night when they were shot. Officials said Gleason approached them both in the same manner — shooting them first from inside his car, then exiting the vehicle and continuing to fire while standing over them.