CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — The punishment of a man found guilty of killing a Corpus Christi father was announced Friday in Judge Carlos Valdez's courtroom.
Valdez sentenced 24-year-old Tyler Farmer to 39 years in prison.
As Farmer took the stand Friday to plead for his future, the focus was on the future of the three young children left behind by the death of 24-year-old Gilbert Sierra that occurred in 2017.
Farmer appeared teary-eyed on the stand and choked up when attorneys asked him to put himself in the shoes of Sierra's children.
"You know what it's like to grow up without a parent," Valdez said.
"Yes sir, I do," Farmer said.
"How does that make you feel toward Gilbert's children," Valdez said.
"It's the worst feeling in the world cause I know what those kids are going to have to go through, and it's one of the main reasons why I'm here today to take this responsibility because the kids don't deserve that," Farmer said.
The lingering question on everyone's mind was -- does Farmer take responsibility for his actions?
Farmer explained to the jury and the victim's family; it was all a freak accident and completely unintentional. He says he only intended to scare Sierra that night, not kill him.
"The death of Gilbert Sierra is that your responsibility," Valdez said.
"I could've stopped everything from happening that night. That was my fight; that was my beef. I could've stopped that, so yes sir, I'm going to take responsibility for that," Farmer said.
Ultimately, Farmer was sentenced to 39 years in prison for the murder.
Farmer is the only one out of the four suspects to be charged in connection to the case to be sentenced to prison.
A jury on Wednesday found Tyler Farmer guilty of murder in the death of 24-year-old Gilbert Sierra that occurred in 2017.
The state rested its case against Farmer after two weeks of testimony and four hours of deliberations.
The family of Sierra was in the courtroom as that verdict was read and struggled to hold back their emotions.
Farmer was visibly emotional after the reading of the jury's decision. After both, the prosecution and defense gave their closing arguments. He stood accused of firing a gunshot into a crowd at Allen Elementary School that resulted in the death of 24-year-old gilbert sierra two years ago.
"You've heard all the evidence, and frankly the evidence is overwhelmingly in favor of the defendant committed murder, Mr. Farmer, it was his beef, his fight, his guns, his shot, his bullet, his murder," the state said.
"Sometimes I think it's helpful when you are looking at the evidence, ask yourselves, is the state's case even clear and convincing," the defense said.
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