DETROIT – The wife of a Detroit police officer who was hit and killed by a 19-year-old man last summer told him she forgives him during his sentencing Friday.
MORE: Man sentenced in fatal hit-and-run crash that killed Detroit officer
"I can tell you one thing, me and my husband we forgive you. We do forgive you," Nadine Shukur said. "He is praying for you even if I do not. He does forgive you, I know that."
Jonathan David Cole, 19, was sentenced to up to 15 years in prison.
Officer Fadi Shukur died Aug. 15, 2018 from the serious injuries he received Aug. 4, 2018 when he was struck by a car while trying to control traffic in the middle of McNichols Road, officials said.
Alcohol a factor in fatal crash
Officials said underage drinking contributed to the incident, and a woman who was in the car with Cole at the time of the crash said she warned him about blinking police lights and people in the street.
Cole is accused of hitting Shukur while going 70 mph.
"The individual continued to operate that vehicle until it broke down," Kleparek said.
Detroit police Chief James Craig said fellow officers tried to save their badly injured colleague.
"Within seconds of him being struck by a vehicle, they immediately placed him in a marked unit and rushed him 3 miles to Sinai-Grace Hospital," Craig said.
Shukur was a rookie on the Detroit police force after a six-year stint in the Navy. He had recently married.
Cole was charged with second-degree murder, reckless driving resulting in death and leaving the scene of a crash resulting in death. He eventually agreed to a plea deal to reckless driving causing death, failure to stop at scene of accident resulting in death.
Cole turned himself in to police the day of the alleged incident.