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Shakeem McNeil of Dorchester will spend the next 19 to 20 years in prison after he pleaded to manslaughter in the case, the Suffolk County District Attorney's office said. He also faces an additional eight to 10 years on a parole violation, prosecutors said.
McNeil shot and killed his neighbor Carl Brown on Millet Street after they got into a heated disagreement because McNeil was grilling in Brown's yard, officials said. Brown asked him to stop, but McNeil refused. During their argument, McNeil pulled out a gun and said, "is that how you want to play?" and shot Brown four times in front of his wife, prosecutors said at his arraignment.
McNeil jumped in his and sped away after the shooting. Police arrested him hours later at a Super 8 Motel in Brockton.
Brown, a father of two young boys, died at a nearby hospital.
Assistant Suffolk County District Attorney Julie Higgins read impact statements from Brown's family during a hearing on Thursday.
“I miss having deep conversations and talking in general, spending time together, laughter, activities together, being adventurous," his daughter wrote. "Not being able to talk to my dad when I really need him at hard times, it’s rough and it really hurts."
Brown's first wife and mother of his children summed up the case in her statement.
"We have justice, but we will never get Carl back.”
Suffolk County District Attorney Kevin Hayden said Brown didn't deserve his fate, but McNeil earned his.
“Carl Brown’s humanity and decency led him to protect an asthmatic resident from potentially harmful smoke, and for that, he was shot," Suffolk County District Attorney Kevin Hayden said in a statement. "This guilty plea ensures that the man who killed Carl Brown is held accountable, but it does not give Mr. Brown’s survivors what they truly want and deserve: to have their loved one back at their side."
Prosecutors originally charged McNeil with first-degree murder, but his first trial earlier this year ended in a mistrial.
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