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The mother and brother of 21-year-old Brian Schiavetti, were in the Newark, N.J., courtroom for the sentencing and spoke of the pain since his murder.
Ernest Williams Jr. was convicted last month in the July 2012 shooting death of Schiavetti in a Montclair, N.J., apartment building. Schiavetti, a student at Villanova University in Philadelphia, had gone to Williams to purchase oxycodone pills.Williams' defense lawyers had said he was acting in self-defense, but prosecutors said he executed Schiavetti as he tried to flee. Williams stole at least $400 from Schiavetti and shot him twice, including a fatal shot to the back of the head, as the Ridgefield man fled the apartment building.
According to NJ.com, Williams told the Schiavetti family he was sorry, saying, "If I could go back in time, I'd change it. Hopefully, y'all forgive me one day."
Williams must serve about 42 years and six months before becoming eligible for parole and will receive credit for more than three years of time already served, NJ.com said.
Superior Court Judge Carolyn Wright said Schiavetti and his friend were "wrong to succumb to experimental and recreational drug use," according to NJ.com. But Wright said Williams "took full advantage of those weaknesses and exploited them" to lure Schiavetti to Montclair and into the apartment building to rob him, NJ.com said.
Click here to read the story at NJ.com.
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