Suspended Sentence Ordered In Fatal Road Rage

A deadly road-rage case came to a close on Tuesday, as a judge convicted 68-year-old Kenneth Gumm of first-degree manslaughter. The judge gave him a 5 year suspended sentence for last June's shooting death of Dale Turney.

Gumm says he shot Turney in self-defense, after Turney charged at him and verbally threatened his life. Gumm made a plea deal and will not see any prison time.

News On 6's Steve Berg reports Gumm says he pleaded guilty on the advice of his attorney. But, he still maintains he did nothing wrong.

This case is over, but the issues it raised about Oklahoma's conceal and carry law, still seem unclear.

"What our family wanted was a conviction so that he understood that his choice to take a human life, was not an acceptable one," said Deneka Cain, Dale Turney's niece.

"I'm sorry that it happened. I wish it hadn't have happened," said Kenneth Gumm, shooter. "(But) today's court proceedings didn't change anything. I still only did what I was forced to do."

The judge himself said in court that in his opinion, there was a strong probability that Gumm would have been acquitted had the case gone to trial.

Gumm said in his statement in court, as he has before, that he felt threatened by the considerably younger and heavier Turney, and that he didn't feel like he had time to retreat into his car, which was locked.

"He could've stopped and walked away at any point. I couldn't. I was walking away. I was backing away from him," said Gumm.

But, Turney's family feels the ruling is an accurate reflection of what happened.

"We're just so grateful that the court found to convict him of a felony. That's really what the family had wanted. We didn't think a suspended sentence that would go off his record, would be a fair reflection of the crime he committed," said Sharon McIntosh, Dale Turney's sister.

The conviction was also important to the family because Gumm can never own a firearm again.

"At least that's something the family can feel good about," said Michael Turney, Dale Turney's brother.

Gumm feels differently.
"I won't be able to defend myself if something like that were to occur again. And I wouldn't have thought it would occur on a quiet Sunday afternoon. But, it did," said Gumm.

Gumm has 10 days to appeal his sentence. Otherwise he's on probation for the next 5 years.

Related stories:

5/29/2008  Kenneth Gumm Pleads Guilty

10/23/2007  Man Accused In Road Rage Shooting To Stand Trial

9/26/2007 Retired Security Guard Charged In Park Shooting

6/19/2007 Man Involved In Fatal Shooting Gives His Side Of The Story

6/11/2007 Shooting Victim's Family Speaks

6/10/2007 Road Rage Argument Turns Deadly