Mangets24 years for fatal New Britain shooting instigated by younger friend
Jul. 6—Rivera's mother also said in a statement read for her as she sat at the prosecution table, "In Jesus' name, I have forgiven you and wish you nothing but the best."
The judge called that forgiveness "such a blessing."
Keegan also told Hapgood, "Things happened to you as a child no child should have happen to them."
But she said Hapgood hasn't responded to his life circumstances as he should. He was the victim of a home invasion in which he suffered injuries that caused him to lose his right arm. The judge said that some people who have been through such a trauma "instead of taking the turn you did" decide to make sure nothing similar happens to someone else.
Likewise, the judge said, Hapgood should have spent the more than four years of jail time since his arrest in a better way than he did.
Prosecutor David Clifton said Hapgood has received disciplinary "tickets" in jail for fighting, disobeying orders and possessing contraband.
The prosecutor also criticized Hapgood for telling five different stories about the shooting over the course of the case, including the latest version in which he claimed to have been the victim of a knife-point robbery.
The prosecutor called Hapgood "an extreme risk to the city" when he is released.
Hapgood was originally charged with murder but accepted a plea bargain in which he was convicted of first-degree manslaughter with a firearm. The plea bargain allowed a prison sentence between 19 and 25 years, and the judge chose a number near the top of that range.
After he is released from prison, Hapgood will be on probation for five years, with the possibility of up to 16 more years behind bars if he violates conditions that include getting mental health and substance abuse evaluation and treatment, seeking and maintaining employment and not possessing guns or ammunition.
Hapgood's co-defendant in the case, Wilfredo Oquendo, now 21, admitted that he told Hapgood before the shooting that he believed Rivera had been trying to set him up for a robbery, although the robbery attempt never happened, according to an affidavit by New Britain police Detective Karl Mordasiewicz. Hapgood gave police a similar version during the police investigation although he almost immediately recanted the confession, the detective reported.
Oquendo has also pleaded guilty to first-degree manslaughter with a firearm and is awaiting sentencing. He faces a prison sentence of 15 to 20 years under his plea bargain.
