After being found guilty last month of murdering his wife, former The Shield actor Michael Jace was sentenced to forty years in prison Friday.
A jury convicted Jace of second-degree murder. He shot his wife April to death in front of their two sons, who were 8 and 5 at the time, at their home in Los Angeles back in May 2014. He waited at their house, and when she arrived, he shot her once in the back and two times in her legs.
Deputy District Attorney Tannaz Mokayef revealed in her opening statement to the jury that Jace was upset that his wife wanted a divorce and thought she was seeing someone else.
“There is absolutely no justification for my actions on that night,” Jace tearfully told his wife’s family during the sentencing. “I am profoundly sorry for the pain that I’ve caused everyone.”
“Second-degree versus manslaughter, it doesn’t matter, neither verdict brings her back…I didn’t commit first-degree murder. There was no premeditated anything,” he added. “I realize it doesn’t bring her back. It doesn’t help.”
Kay Henry, April Jace’s mother, walked out of the room as Jace spoke.
“My first thought on my mind most mornings is, ‘Your daughter has been murdered.’ Then I wonder about how I’ll do today without her,” Henry stated to the court earlier. “I think about how my grandsons will navigate their teen years. … Will they remember their mother and how much she loved them?”
Jace portrayed a Los Angeles police office on the FX crime drama The Shield from 2002-2008. He also had small roles in Boogie Nights, Planet of the Apes, and Forrest Gump.
