On October 20th, 2014, 17-year old Laquan McDonald was fatally shot by Officer Jason Van Dyke in Chicago, IL. The footage of the shooting sparked outrage as people saw McDonald being shot sixteen times within fifteen seconds. After the trial, on October 5th, 2018, Jason Van Dyke was convicted of second-degree murder and sixteen counts of aggravated battery.

While it was said that each count of aggravated battery had a minimum of six years in prison, there was confusion over exactly how much total jail time he could serve. Would it be six multiplied by sixteen, or just six? The answer to this question depends on the judge’s choice between a consecutive sentence and a concurrent sentence.

What is a consecutive sentence? If Van Dyke has to serve time consecutively, the time of all of the convictions will be added to each other. He would not begin serving the time for one count until the time served for the count before it is completed.

What is a concurrent sentence? If the sentence is concurrent, it will be as if he is starting all the counts at the same time.

Here is what some WY students had to say about the case:

“He should serve concurrent time because the misery that he will go through might teach him the life lesson that he desperately needs. The lesson is that unnecessary violence is not acceptable.”- Kinaya Kerr ‘21

“He should serve a consecutive sentence so that he can pay for what he did because it was dehumanizing.” – Andrea Robledo ‘19

“He should serve a consecutive sentence because he deserves to rot in prison for what he did.”- Isis Johnson ‘19

To know how much time Jason Van Dyke will serve, tune into when his sentence is announced.