‘Shield’ actor to be sentenced in killing of wife

An actor known for playing an LAPD officer on the television series “The Shield” was sentenced to 40 years to life in state prison Friday for the murder of his wife, who was fatally shot in front of the couple’s young sons.

The actor was upset April Jace wanted a divorce and was obsessed with the belief that she was seeing someone else, Deputy District Attorney Tannaz Mokayef told jurors in her opening statement at trial.

Michael Jace, 53, was sentenced by a judge in Los Angeles after a jury convicted him last week of second-degree murder in the death of April Jace two years ago. April Jace was shot three times on May 19, 2014, in the Hyde Park home she shared with Michael. Jace had called 911 after the shooting and informed the operator that he had shot his wife.

“Because it was a murder, and it wasn’t a voluntary (manslaughter), and that’s what the point was – it was a difference between what the jury thought as far as the planning involved in it, but it was definitely a murder and the right outcome happened”, she said.

According to the New York Daily News, he said, “There is no justification for my actions on that night at all”. She was married to Michael Jace for nine years. He filed for Chapter 13 bankruptcy protection in 2011.

He cited $500,000 in debts and an annual income of about $80,000 from residuals from his TV and film work, the documents said. He also turned to the family and said he was sorry.

April Jace had worked as a financial aid counselor at Biola University, a private school in La Mirada, California, according to the school. “Her love for helping students and families and her great work ethic earned the respect and love of her coworkers”. She was 40 years old when she was slain. Jace told officers after his arrest that he “wanted her to feel some pain” because she was a runner, and that all he originally meant to do was “just shoot her in the leg”, not kill her. Michael Jace had also originally told detectives that he had been drinking that day, and that he had also contemplated taking his own life.