CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The man who killed Heather Heyer during a white supremacists rally in Charlottesville in 2017, was sentenced to life in prison on Monday, plus 419 years on state charges related to that crime, according to WDBJ7.
James Alex Fields
22-year-old James Fields was sentenced to life in prison on federal hate crime charges in June. Fields, originally from Ohio, drove the car that plowed into a crowd of counter protesters during the rally. During this incident, 32-year-old Heather Heyer was killed.
Fields previously pleaded guilty to 29 federal hate crimes in March as part of a plea agreement that eliminated the death penalty as a possible punishment.
Related: Charlottesville car attacker pleads for mercy in sentencing memo
Prosecutors wrote in a sentencing memorandum that life in prison is the only appropriate sentence.
Fields was 20 when he attended the August 2017 demonstrations in Charlottesville, Virginia.
He joined white nationalists, neo-Nazis and other groups opposed to the city’s decision to remove a statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee. During a day of violent clashes in the city, Fields drove his vehicle into a crowd of counter protesters, killing Heather Heyer and injuring many others.
Click here for our full coverage on the Charlottesville protest.
