WASHINGTON — A sentencing hearing will be held Friday for a former Fairfax County police officer who pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter in the shooting death of an unarmed Springfield, Virginia, man.
Adam Torres’ guilty plea came as part of a plea deal with prosecutors, and one of the terms of the deal is a 12-month prison term. Fairfax County Circuit Court Judge Robert Smith will have to decide whether to approve the sentence.
John Geer, 46, was shot and killed while standing unarmed on his doorstep, during a police response to his Springfield home over a domestic dispute call in August 2013.
His father, Don Geer, was in the house at the time of the shooting. “Nothing seems to have gone the way we would have liked it to go and I don’t see where it’s gonna be any different,” he told WTOP, speaking about the sentencing hearing.
Geer said he would like to see Torres get a few more years in prison for the death of his son.
Back in April, shortly after the plea deal, the defendant’s attorney, John Carroll, told Reuters that the judge has a difficult decision to make in the case.
“But one of the things Adam was most concerned about was that his actions caused Mr. Geer’s children to be without a father,” Carroll told the news agency.
Prosecutors had said that Torres was unfit for duty at the time of the shooting since he had been fighting with his wife before responding to Geer’s home.
Jeff Stewart, a friend of John Geer’s who was also at the house the night of the shooting, says Torres has been held accountable for his actions and he will leave sentencing in the hands of the judicial system.
“John’s not coming back, and that’s not gonna change whether he [Torres] serves one year or five years,” Stewart said.
He hopes this case can teach lessons to prevent a similar event from happening in the future.
