SOUTH BRONX — The reputed Latin King gang member accused of killing a 17-year-old aspiring architect on the verge of graduating from high school was sentenced on Thursday to 18 years behind bars, although the mother of the victim said she hoped he would "rot in jail for the rest of his life."
Raul Pacheco, 25, was sentenced for the fatal shooting of Alphonza Bryant III on April 22, 2013 at 1159 Fox St. in what prosecutors described as a random attack meant to send a message about being a strong gang member.
Bryant's death was thrust into the spotlight when former Mayor Michael Bloomberg cited it in a speech that warned about the dangers of limiting police powers such as stop-and-frisk.
Bryant’s mother Jenaii Van Doten spoke at the sentencing, saying that she was still struggling to cope with the loss of her oldest son and describing Pacheco as a “cold blooded murderer with no regard for another’s life.”
“I am so hurt and angry that no matter how hard I tried to put the words together for today to confront my son’s killer Raul Pacheco, I can’t even begin to describe the impact this whole ordeal has taken on us,” she said. “As a mother, you never imagine having to make arrangements for your child’s funeral.”
Prosecutor Theresa Gottlieb stressed that Bryant’s friends had become his mother’s family in the wake of his death and said the reason his mother did not want to the case to go to trial was to avoid having to make his friends take part in it as witnesses.
Although Van Doten said that no amount of time in jail would be would be enough to make up for the loss of her son, defense attorney Lawrence Dubin maintained that 18 years was a "substantial prison sentence" and said Pacheco was "contrite" about what he had done.
"It's something he has to get past himself," he said.
Pacheco apologized to the family at his sentencing, saying that he was young and naive when he committed the crime but acknowledging that there was nothing he could say to make them feel better.
"I'm truly sorry for what I have done," he said, "and I live with that every single day."
Eric Landron, who had been charged in Bryant's death as well, is scheduled to be sentenced on July 27, according to the Bronx District Attorney's Office.
