MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, Fla. – Matthew Guzman was sentenced to 45 years in state prison Monday, nearly seven years after he gunned down a Kendall tire shop owner and another man.
Guzman, 28, accepted a plea deal and must serve at least 25 years of his sentence, plus six years of probation after his release and mental health counseling.
Police said one of the victims, Paul Barrow, 46, was gunned down Dec. 16, 2010, inside Barrow's Devonaire Service and Tire at the corner of 112th Street and SW 122nd Avenue.
Police said he was found shot in the head by a customer who found Barrow lying on the floor near the store's office.
Guzman was arrested a month after the shooting on murder and robbery charges.
Detectives said Guzman confessed to killing Barrow and told detectives that he also killed his neighbor, Harry Ray, 64, a month earlier.
Authorities said Guzman and Ray got into an argument at Ray's home in Miami in November 2010, which led to the shooting.
They said Guzman shot Ray several times, including in the head.
Guzman bowed his head as he listened to emotional testimony from the victims' loved ones.
"I don't know what he's thinking. I think he had remorse, I do -- not that it helps us," Barrow's widow, Audree Barrow, said. "But I do feel like he did have some kind of remorse."
"I think it's the first time that he's showed emotion in six years," Ray's daughter, Cindy Muffett, said. "I think reality has set in."