Don't know a thing about Jamil Jones other than he is 37 years old and that he used to coach basketball at Wake Forest. From what has been reported, Jones has no previous criminal record and have not even heard anecdotal evidence that he is in anyway a violent man or has lived a life that endangers others on this earth. So, this appears to be an out of character act by Jamil Jones.
On August 5, 2018, Jones failed to properly handle the situation when a drunk Sander Szabo (5 times the legal limit) stumbled down a New York street randomly banging on cars, including Jones' car, while he was inside with his fiancée. Jones responded by punching Szabo in the face. Szabo fell and died.
Because of that act, Jones lost his job. His career as a college basketball coach is likely done. Szabo's family can and probably will (if they haven't already) pursue civil remedies against Jones. Jones is on probation for three years, meaning that if he f-ups, in any way, over the next 3 years, he goes to jail. Guessing that a large part of whatever money Jones had saved as of August 2018 is now gone to pay his attorney.
Given these circumstances, what is the point of sending Jones to jail? Does it make society safer? Does it teach a lesson to Jones that he otherwise didn't learn in the aftermath of the August 2018 incident? Would sending Jones to jail aid victims rights by perhaps accelerating the healing process for the Szabo family? That's about the best argument that there is. Do some think that others will now punch strangers in the face because Jones "got a way with it" (to the extent Jones is considered to have "gotten a way with it")?
I don't know Jamil Jones. Maybe, he will wrongfully punch someone else in the face, but given his past and given what has happened, that seems unlikely. The future is never knowable with certainty.
Given the information available, Judge Joanne Watters got it right.