Chicago man gets life in prison for fatal road rage shooting

Published 4:23 pm Tuesday, October 4, 2022

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MINNEAPOLIS — A Chicago man was sentenced to life in prison Tuesday for the highway shooting death of a Minnesota man in what authorities said was a road rage incident.

Three months ago jurors found Jamal Smith, 34, guilty of three counts in the July 2021 death of 56-year-old Jay Boughton, of Crystal. Boughton was shot in the head as he drove his son home from a baseball game in  Plymouth.

Smith appeared virtually in a Hennepin County courtroom that was packed with Boughton’s family and supporters, who also filled an overflow observation room.

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Judge Nicole Engisch handed down the mandatory life sentence for first-degree murder and imposed concurrent sentences for second-degree murder and being a felon in possession of a firearm.

The automatic life sentence comes with the possibility of parole after 30 years.

Boughton’s wife held back sobs as she described getting a phone call from her son telling her Jay was hurt and driving up to the scene with her heart beating so loud she could hear it in her head.