LOUISVILLE (WHAS11) – A judge sentenced the man who pleaded guilty to killing LMPD Officer Nick Rodman to 35 years.
Wathaniel Woods will be up for parole in 20 years.
The courtroom was full on June 15 as Rodman’s wife Ashley gave witness testimony. She fought back tears as she described her son asking for her to take him to heaven to see his father Nick Rodman.
Woods entered a guilty plea on April 27 to charges of murder, possession of a handgun by a convicted felon, wanton endangerment, and trafficking a controlled substance stemming from the deadly police chase on March 28, 2017.
The high-speed chase started after LMPD responded to a call of a woman being beaten by the father of her child and shots being fired at 26th and Madison Streets. The chase ended with the suspect, Woods, crashing into Officer Rodman's police cruiser at an estimated speed of 78 miles per hour.
The sentence recommendation for Woods was 35 years.
RELATED: