But during the trial, Pring-Wilson’s attorneys argued that Colono was the one who opened the car door, causing Pring-Wilson to use his three-inch Spyderco military blade in an act of self-defense.

Soon after his arrest at 8 a.m. on April 12, Middlesex District Court refused to grant him bail because his knowledge of five languages meant he posed a flight risk. On May 14, 2003, a judge released Pring-Wilson from jail on $400,000 bail after an appeal. He has been under house arrest since then.

The trial, originally set for last November, was pushed back because of a the defense’s pre-trial motion to change the trial venue to western Massachusetts to avoid a biased jury in Cambridge. The court denied that motion in May.

At that time, the defense also sought to suppress statements that Pring-Wilson made on the morning of his arrest in which he claimed to be an innocent bystander to the incident.

The court ruled that Pring-Wilson was not suffering from enough mental and physical trauma to inhibit his ability to make voluntary statements.

GRIEVING AND PUNISHMENT

Those close to Pring-Wilson and Colono delivered emotional statements before the sentencing that left half the people packed into the courtroom sniffling and wiping their eyes. The rest sat solemnly pondering Colono’s death and Pring-Wilson’s crime.

Cindy Guzman, Colono’s ex-girlfriend and the mother of their four-year-old daughter Jade, said she thinks about his death every day.

“He was my best friend, my shoulder to cry on, my soldier and the love of my life,” she said.

Jade sat in the front row as the judge handed down the sentence. Court officials said she wrote her statement in crayons, surrounded by lopsided hearts. Guzman told the court what Jade wrote: “I love my daddy so much, I miss you, Daddy, and I wish you were here.”

Colono’s sister Wanda Rivera also read the translated statement of Ada Colono, the victim’s mother.

“On the day my son was killed, time stopped,” she said.

While family members mourned Colono’s loss, the emotion in the air intensified when Pring-Wilson’s parents took the stand to speak for their son.

“I am the defendant’s mother and I love him very much,” said Cynthia Pring, breathing heavily between sobs. “He’s never been in trouble, he’s never been in a fight, he’s been a role model for everyone who’s ever met him...he’s everything I ever wanted in a son.”

She couldn’t find the words to describe her sorrow for the Colono family.