MINNEAPOLIS — A former taekwondo instructor who tried to have the mother of his child killed has been sentenced to nearly two decades in prison.
On Monday, Hennepin County Judge Shereen Askalani sentenced Timothy Amacher to 18 years in prison, the maximum sentence without going over Minnesota guidelines.
Back in Nov. 2022, Amacher was found guilty of attempted first-degree murder for aiding the shooting of his ex-girlfriend NicoleFord, formerly Nicki Lenway, a Minneapolis Police Department forensic scientist and mother of the pair's then-5-year-old son.
KARE 11 reporter Lou Raguse, who was inside the courthouse during Amacher's sentencing, said Ford "looked incredibly relieved as the sentence was read." Raguse reports that the sentence ensures the son Ford and Amacher share will be over 18 when Amacher is released from prison.
"I struggle to find the words to fully express all that me and my family have endured as a result of Tim's actions," Ford said while delivering a victim impact statement in court Monday. "I am so glad that I at least had the courage to leave and want something better for myself and for my son."
While asking the judge to hand down the maximum sentence allowed for Amacher, Ford told the courtroom, "I fear for the day he is ultimately released. He will not stop. He is self-serving. And I know losing this battle will only fuel his rage further."
On April 20, 2022, Ford was shot twice from behind while picking up her son, who was having a court-monitored supervised visit with Amacher at FamilyWise supervised parenting center on University Avenue near the University of Minnesota.
Amacher's former taekwondo student and girlfriend, 25-year-old Colleen Larson, was charged with first-degree attempted murder for her role in the shooting.
According to court filings, Larson admitted to shooting Ford during an interview with investigators. “When asked whose idea it was to shoot [Lenway], Larson stated it was Amacher’s. Larson stated that she and Amacher discussed killing [Lenway] a week or two before the shooting,” Senior Assistant Hennepin County Attorney Patrick Lofton wrote in a court filing.
The next pre-trial hearing in Larson's case is scheduled for Feb. 3, 2023.
Watch more local news:
Watch the latest local news from the Twin Cities in our YouTube playlist: