A suburban Seattle police officer was sentenced Thursday to over 16 years in prison for the 2019 shooting death of a homeless man he was trying to arrest for disorderly conduct, marking the first conviction under a Washington state law that made it easier to prosecute officers for on-duty killings.

Auburn police Officer Jeffrey Nelson was sentenced for his June conviction of second-degree murder for fatally shooting Jesse Sarey while trying to arrest him for disorderly conduct.

Dan Benjamin said he originally felt officer Jeffrey Nelson was not guilty of second-degree murder, but changed his mind after getting over his own "biases."

Former Auburn officer Jeffrey Nelson awaits sentencing after being convicted for the 2019 fatal shooting of Jesse Sarey.

Nelson was the first officer to be charged following new standards for officers was adopted in Initiative 940.

The prosecution of former Auburn police Officer Jeffrey Nelson took years and cost millions of dollars. A jury convicted him of killing 26-year-old Jesse Sarey.

After months of delays, Auburn police officer Jeffrey Nelson was sentenced for the 2019 murder of Jesse Sarey on Thursday. Nelson shot and killed Sarey outside of an Auburn grocery store in May of 2019.

A judge Thursday sentenced a police officer in Auburn, south of Seattle, to 16 years and 10 months in prison for the murder of 26-year-old Jesse Sarey, reports KING5. Jeffrey Nelson is the first officer in Washington state to be convicted under a new legal standard of using deadly force,