A military police officer was found guilty Wednesday of unintentional murder by the Phnom Penh Municipal Court for accidentally shooting a 6-year-old girl during a party in April.
“The court sentences the accused, Lim Lay, 31, to 18 months in prison but he will only serve six months. The rest of the sentence is suspended,” Presiding Judge Chhe Virak told the court Wednesday.
After the verdict was announced, Mr. Lay, a second lieutenant in the municipal military police force, expressed his sympathies and stated he had no intention of appealing the court’s decision.
“I want this matter finished,” he said, sitting on wooden bench outside of the courtroom.
At his trial in September, Mr. Lay said he and his wife were at a Khmer New Year party at a house in Pur Senchey district when his standard-issue K-54 pistol dropped from his waistband, hit the ground and fired a round into the girl’s chest.
