Former Tulsa County reserve sheriff's deputy Robert Bates says he doesn't expect to survive his four-year prison sentence for fatally shooting an unarmed suspect during a sting operation last year.
Bates says he suffers from an enlarged heart, and that it's a "good possibility" he will die in prison. The 74-year-old former insurance executive was convicted in April of second-degree manslaughter for the April 2015 death of Eric Harris. He says he mistook his gun for his Taser.
"It was an accident. I didn't do it on purpose,” Bates said. “That's the one thing that's pretty much ruined my life."
During a June 6 interview with NBC's Gabe Gutierrez from the Tulsa County Jail broadcast Saturday on NBC Nightly News, Bates said he wished he'd never volunteered with the Tulsa County Sheriff's Office.
“I regret that I ever decided to try to give something back to the community,” Bates said. “And I wish I hadn't signed up in 2007 to become a reserve deputy."
Bates donated thousands of dollars in cash and equipment to the sheriff's office, and a 2009 internal memo questioned Bates' qualifications.
In that same broadcast, Harris' family says they have forgiven Bates, but they believe actions should have consequences, Gutierrez reports:
Bates said he prayed that Harris' family would forgive him, and was surprised to hear his son and ex-wife take the stand at his trial and say they did. Growing emotional, Bates said he would like to tell Harris' family "that I'm so sorry that it happened." But he doesn't think that will happen. "It keeps me up at night. I can't sleep," he said, crying. He said he cried "all the time" over Harris' death. But for Harris' family, regret only goes so far. "Anything he says is not going to bring my dad back," said Harris' son, Aiden Fraley, 17.
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