MIAMI – A 19-year-old man convicted in the fatal shooting of two people during a carjacking at a Miami Gardens gas station will spend the rest of his life behind bars.
Eric Ellington was sentenced Monday to life in prison for the murder of Julian Soler, 23, 50 years in prison for the murder of Kennia Duran, 24, and 30 years in prison for armed carjacking.
Ellington was just 16 years old when he fatally shot Soler on July 25, 2011. Although he wasn't the one who pulled the trigger on Duran, he was still convicted on two counts of first-degree murder in March.
"Mr. Ellington, you shot a man in cold blood," said Judge Miguel de la O before handing down his sentence. "You shot him eight times, and you kept shooting him. You wanted him to die."
Ellington previously admitted that although surveillance video showed Soler putting his hands up to surrender his car to him, he continued to shoot Soler because he "didn't look scared enough."
"I thought he was going to get the minimum, I really did," said Soler's mother, Janine Diaz. "Because of his age, I didn't think they were going to give him life."
A co-hort is accused of fatally shooting Duran in an effort to eliminated any witnesses.
"Is this justice for you?" Local 10 News reporter Glenna Milberg asked Duran's mother, Jacqueline Serra.
"To a certain extent, yes, there is justice," said Serra.
One other mother grieving in the courtroom on Monday was Erica Love, the mother of Ellington.
"As a parent, I don't know what to say," said Love. "All I know is that is not the child I know."
Two other men, Dylan McFarlane and Wayne Williams, were also arrested in connection with the shooting. They are awaiting trial.
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