Man gets 4 years in teenager’s death

Kim Smith

Thursday, July 19, 2001 | 10:38 a.m.

A Las Vegas man was sentenced to four years in prison Wednesday after pleading guilty to involuntary manslaughter in the shooting death of a 14-year-old boy in February.

Rick Rodman will have to serve at least one year and seven months in prison before he is eligible for parole.

Police reported at the time that Jackson was at the Rodman house with a group of friends when Rodman's son took the gun from his father's closet and began playing with it.

Rodman told police the gun accidentally discharged when he took the gun away from the boy and tried to uncock it. The bullet struck Rory Jackson in the chest.

About a dozen of the boy's family members filled the courtroom Wednesday for Rodman's sentencing. Three of them addressed District Judge Sally Loehrer.

His parents and uncle questioned whether the shooting was truly accidental and why Rodman left for Iowa immediately afterward.

Rodman told the family Wednesday he left town because his mother had suffered a stroke. He had bought airline tickets back to Las Vegas but was unable to use them because the police arrested him in Iowa.

"I wish this had never of happened," Rodman said.

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