On Friday, The Shield actor Michael Jace received 40 years to life sentence for the murder of his wife. The 53-year-old actor admitted to fatally shooting his wife, 40-year-old April Jace, on May 19, 2014.
The TV drama actor admitted that he shot his wife once in the back and twice in the legs. The incident happened in front of their two children at their home in South Los Angeles.
The couple was married for nine years. Prosecutor Tannaz Mokayef said that Jace was upset over the divorce. The actor also believed that his wife was having an affair. However, there was no evidence about the alleged affair presented during the trial.
On Friday, Jace apologized to the family, adding that nothing can justify his actions. "There is absolutely no justification for my actions on that night. I am profoundly sorry for the pain that I've caused everyone," Jace told the members of his late wife's family in court.
After the incident, Jace called the authorities to report the incident, saying that he had shot his own wife. Jace's father-in-law received a message from the actor who also informed him of the shooting. The father-in-law also dialed 911 during his drive to his daughter's home.
"My son-in-law called me and texted me and said come get the kids because he shot April, our daughter," said Jace's father-in-law in a recording released by the Los Angeles Fire Department.
Jace's attorney told the jurors that the actor shot his wife in the "heat of passion." In court, they also acknowledged that Jace admitted the shooting but argued that the shooting was not planned.
Before the second gun shot, Jace's 10-year-old son told the jurors that he heard his father say, "If you like running, then run to heaven." The couple's two sons were aged 8 and 5 at the time of the incident.
Last month, Jace was convicted of second-degree murder, which means that the killing was intentional but not planned. Jace added that it was important that his wife's family members know he didn't mean to commit first-degree murder.
Jace is best known as the actor who played police officer Julien Lowe in The Shield cable drama, which ran from 2002 to 2008. He also had several parts in the Planet of the Apes, Forrest Gump and Boogie Nights.
In the past 20 years, he played various supporting roles in TV shows. In 2011, he filed for Chapter 13 bankruptcy protection.
