FILE – In this Nov. 18, 2012, file photo, New York Jets running back Joe McKnight watches from the bench during the fourth quarter of an NFL football game against the St. Louis Rams in St. Louis. Ronald Gasser, 55, of Terrytown, La., accused of killing former NFL running back Joe McKnight during a road rage dispute, was indicted on a charge of second-degree murder, Jefferson Parish District Attorney Paul Connick Jr. said in a news release, Thursday, Feb. 2, 2017. (AP Photo/Tom Gannam, File) GRETNA, La. (AP) – The trial in a road-rage shooting that left former NFL football player Joe McKnight dead was set to begin with jury selection Tuesday in a New Orleans suburb.
Ronald Gasser, 55, is charged with second-degree murder in the Dec. 1, 2016, shooting of the local high school football star.
McKnight, 28, was a running back, considered a top recruit when he came out of John Curtis Christian School. He played college ball at Southern California before three seasons with the New York Jets and one with the Kansas City Chiefs.
Police said the confrontation took place as the men were traveling over a Mississippi River bridge in New Orleans and on roads in neighboring Jefferson Parish.
Jury selection was set to begin in the courtroom of state District Judge Ellen Kovach. Gasser’s attorneys have cast McKnight as the aggressor and are expected to argue Gasser shot in self-defense.