Appellate Court upholds manslaughter conviction

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) – An Oklahoma appellate court has upheld the conviction and sentence of a white former police officer in the fatal off-duty shooting of his daughter’s black boyfriend.

The Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals rejected appeals Thursday from former Tulsa officer Shannon Kepler. He was convicted of manslaughter and sentenced in 2017 to 15 years in prison.

Juries deadlocked three times in Kepler’s case. He was convicted at his fourth trial.

Kepler shot 19-year-old Jeremey Lake in 2014. Kepler told investigators Lake was armed and that he had shot Lake in self-defense. Police never found a weapon on Lake or at the scene.

Kepler’s attorneys said he was trying to protect his adult daughter because she was living in a crime-ridden neighborhood. Kepler retired from the police force after he was charged.