A Kansas City man has been sentenced to six years in prison for the killing of another Kansas City man in 2019.

Jason K. Cook, 24, was sentenced Wednesday in the fatal shooting of 23-year-old Cameron Douglas. Cook was found guilty in October of involuntary manslaughter and armed criminal action. The jury recommended he serve three years on each count. A judge on Wednesday chose to have the sentences run consecutively.

Douglas’ family previously said they were devastated by the verdict and had hoped for a murder conviction, Jackson County Prosecutor Jean Peters Baker said in a news release following October’s verdict. They were also shocked by the recommended sentence.

“My hands are tied,” Jackson County Judge Bryan E. Round said to Douglas’ family before delivering the sentence, the maximum he was allowed. In their victim impact statements, family members expressed anguish that Cook could receive no more than six years.

Cook was initially charged with second-degree murder and armed criminal action in the killing. But a Jackson County jury instead decided to convict Cook of the lesser charge after his defense attorney argued that Cook was acting in self-defense when he fired several shots at Douglas.

The judge, before delivering the sentence, noted that had a gun not been present, that January afternoon may have resulted in a black eye or bloody nose. But probably not a killing.

The shooting

The shooting happened Jan. 21, 2019, in the parking lot of an apartment complex in the 5300 block of Oak Leaf Drive. Kansas City police responded to the area and found Douglas dead on the front stoop of an apartment building next to eight spent shell casings, according to court records.

The shooter had fled the scene in a Chevrolet Malibu before police arrived. Investigators reviewed surveillance footage that showed an apparent argument between Douglas and another man, later identified as Cook, shortly before the shooting.

The video also showed that at one point Douglas began to walk away, but then stopped with his hands in his pockets. He turned around toward Cook, at which point Cook began shooting at him. Douglas started to run away as Cook continued shooting.

Cook’s attorney, Jarrett Johnson, on Wednesday argued that the killing was the result of “two young men who got into an argument in the heat of the moment.”

Johnson asked that the sentences run concurrently, so that Cook would only spend three years behind bars, adding that he believed Cook to be redeemable. The judge declined.

“I never meant for any of this to happen,” Cook said when given the chance to address the court and Douglas’s family Wednesday. “I pray that you’ll forgive me one day, but honestly I could see that not happening.”

‘A living hell’

Just one month shy of three years since his son’s killing, Bishop Frank Douglas sat in the courtroom in front of his son’s killer and described his life the past couple years as “a living hell.”

His son’s daughter — his granddaughter — just turned three. She never had a Christmas with her father. Douglas, who founded an organization called Heart of the Father, choked on his words as he spoke.

Carmen Douglas, Bishop Frank Douglas’ wife (and Cameron Douglas’ “bonus mom”), said her stepson was a mentor to youth, and on Sundays his friends would drive down just to go to church with him. When he died, more then 1,200 people showed up for his funeral.

Despite this, she said, Cameron Douglas’ integrity and character were “crucified” during trial.

Family received some consolation just a few days ago, when they were given back Cameron’s phone which they unlocked to view a video he took that night.

“What they said happened didn’t happen,” Douglas said. “Cameron didn’t act belligerently. He did not even have an altercation.”

But she said the video also left the family asking whether a different verdict and sentence would have been handed down had the jury seen the same video they watched.

Douglas’ death continues to take a toll on his loved ones, especially his young nieces and nephews who are now in counseling.

“It’s one thing to be an adult and deal with grief, but it’s a whole different overwhelming experience to deal with a child that’s grieving,” said Ra’Shay Green, Cameron’s “bonus sister” and stepsister.

Green’s son, who Douglas used to tutor, play music with and cheer on at sporting events, recently told her that he didn’t want to live anymore without his uncle.

“How do I explain to him that there’s hope, that there’s justice, that the system works for us?” she asked.