Man sentenced to more than 23 years in prison for 2018 deadly Minneapolis gas station shooting

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Rodney Jackson was sentenced to more than 23 years in prison for killing a man in a gas station shooting in 2018. (FOX 9)

MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) - The gunman in a deadly 2018 shooting at a south Minneapolis gas station is heading to prison for more than two decades.

Friday, Rodney Jackson, who maintains this was a case of self-defense, was sentenced to more than 23 years in prison.

During the sentencing, a Hennepin County Attorney's Office advocate read the heartbreaking words of a Halimo Alim, the mother of 18-year old Mohamed Abdi, who died in the shooting. 

“Mohamed’s life ended far too soon,” wrote Alim. “The world truly lost an amazing person and we can never get him back.”

Abdi was shot and killed by Jackson in November 2018, following a gas station dispute in south Minneapolis. Jackson and his then girlfriend had their SUV boxed in. There was shouting, and items - including rocks - were thrown back and forth.

Jackson, a permit-to-carry holder with no criminal record, pulled out of the lot and fired a single time before taking off.

During the trial, he and his legal team begged for mercy.

“I didn’t know anyone was shot when I left the gas station and I am still dealing with it myself because I did take a life,” said Jackson.

Jackson had argued self-defense at trial with a jury eventually acquitting him on a more serious, first-degree premeditated murder charge, but finding him guilty of second-degree murder.

“It does stick in my mind you had opportunity to leave the scene and then returned,” said Judge Kathryn Quaintance.

Judge Quaintance sentenced Jackson to 280 months in prison, which is less than what prosecutors and Abdi’s family had requested.

The defense team has vowed to appeal. Since the verdict was reached in November, they have argued for a new trial.

For Alim, the grief from losing her son is still raw.

“I don’t know what to say to somebody who would take the life of someone who didn’t do anything to them,” wrote Alim. “Someone like that shouldn’t have existed on this earth.”

Abdi’s death marked a second tragedy in his family as his sister died in a Minneapolis homicide in 2015.