A grand jury indicted Ronald Gasser Jr. on Thursday in the fatal shooting of the former N.F.L. player Joe McKnight, handing down a second-degree murder charge. The charge is more severe than the one that Mr. Gasser had initially faced in December, when critics complained that racial bias may have affected the investigation.
If convicted, Mr. Gasser, 54, would face life in prison with no parole.
The death of Mr. McKnight, 28, a star running back at the University of Southern California who later played for the Jets and Kansas City Chiefs in the N.