A Bridgeport man will likely spend most of the rest of his life in prison for a shooting in Stamford that killed a local mom and injured two others just over five years ago.

On Friday morning, Ian Evans, 33, appeared in Stamford Superior Court, where a judge handed down a sentence of 40 years. It came after the family of Shernetta Dunmore emotionally addressed the court.

Frances Dunmore, the victim's mother, spoke beside a blown-up picture of happier times—when her daughter was still alive raising her own child, a son who now can only see his mom in pictures.

"This is all he has left of her. This is all," said Frances Dunmore as she held out a small urn of ashes and began to cry. "And it's hard. It's hard for him. It's hard for me. "

"Shernetta wasn't just my sister. She was a piece of our heart, a part of our family's foundation and the light in so many people's lives," older brother Jamal Dunmore told the judge. "She was a single mother who worked tirelessly, Your Honor, to give her son the best life possible. Everything she did—every choice, every sacrifice—was made out of love for him."

Dunmore was 35 years old when she lost her life on Sept. 20, 2020. She was at an end-of-summer block party at the Ursula Place complex when gunfire broke out—a crime that was caught on video.

"The defendant discharged his firearm at least 14 times that night. Fourteen shots in the direction of other human beings at a close distance," said Assistant State's Attorney Margaret Moscati.

Last month, Evans' trial ended in convictions but not for murder. The jury instead found him guilty of the lesser included charge of first-degree manslaughter with a firearm, along with charges of assault and criminal possession of a firearm.

Dunmore's family has grappled with the verdict.

"Just please do right, please," Frances Dunmore pleaded. "This man needs to go to jail for a long time. He needs to suffer."

"We do not speak from a place of anger, but from love for Shernetta, for her son and for the future we hope will be safer because of her story," added Jamal Dunmore.

The state sought the maximum sentence of 55 years in prison.

"The defendant had every opportunity in life to do right. He comes from an incredibly supportive, successful family who did everything in their power to set him up for good," Moscati stated. "There is no excuse to explain his actions that night."

Moscati also brought up Evans' prior drug and firearms convictions. She said he served 30 months in prison.

"In 2012, he had an opportunity to learn, to grow from that experience to rely on the family support that he is blessed to have and to make the right choice. He had a second chance then and he did not take it," Moscati argued.

Evans' defense attorney requested a sentence that would give Evans a chance to be a productive member of society at some point in his life—even for a short period of time.

"Getting to know Mr. Evans the past five years, it's still incredibly difficult for me to reconcile the fact that that's the same guy in the video. The guy I got to know is humble, contrite, affable," countered attorney Don Cretella.

But there wasn't any remorse or mention of the victims when it was Evans' turn to address the court.

"I am not a murderer or responsible for any of these charges I was convicted for," Evans stated. "The system fell short in this situation. I'm not going to get too deep into it, but at the end of the day, I'm an innocent man today, and I stand on that."

Those words didn't sway the judge who sentenced Evans to 30 years for first-degree manslaughter with a firearm, five years for assault and five years for criminal possession of a firearm with those sentences to run consecutively.

"The video tape of these offenses was nothing less than shocking. It was a depraved, totally unnecessary, unprovoked use of deadly physical force against a large group of people who were simply taking in a nice evening," Hernandez said, calling it a miracle that more people weren't hit.

Evans' sentencing came just ahead of Shernetta Dunmore's birthday. One loved one called the result a gift to her. Shernetta Dunmore would've turned 41 on Nov. 16.