Killer Of St. John's Student During 2016 J'Ouvert Festival Gets 17 1/3 Years In Prison
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) - A man convicted of killing at St. John's University student during the 2016 J'Ouvert Festival in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, was sentenced to more than 17 years in prison.
Reginald Moise, 20, shot 22-year-old Tiarah Poyau in the face during the event that proceeds the West Indian Day Parade.
The judge sentenced Moise to 17 1/3 years in prison on Friday.
He admitted he was intoxicated when he fatally shot this innocent bystander who was just beginning her career as an accountant.
Before the sentence was read Tiarah's mother, Vertina Brown, spoke out about the loss of her only child and the man who took her life.
"She is my child and I am forever scarred by this," she said. "I am asking for the maximum."
Moise apologized to the family, his voice soft and his comments brief.
"I told the detective is the truth (is) I'm sorry for the Brown and Pollo family for what you're going through," he said.
The judge said Moise's behavior at J'Ouvert were acts of idiocy charges that destroyed a promising life, that he "foreclosed all of his victims' possibilities."
The sentence is the maximum allowable and the judge made sure his time run consecutively, putting Moise behind bars close to two decades.
Moise was acquitted of murder but convicted of criminally negligent homicide and weapons charges.
Previously his lawyers said he didn't know the gun was loaded and was so intoxicated he couldn't remember shooting anyone.
MORE: Tightened Security For J'Ouvert Festival Faces Mixed Reactions From Revelers In Brooklyn
Poyau's mother told CBS2 her daughter was pursuing a master's degree at St. John's and had just landed her first job in accounting.
"Before she could start, day one, she was murdered," Brown said.
During his trial, she told Moise to "kill yourself."
"What he did was despicable. It is unforgiving. I have no remorse for him," she said.
Tyreke Borel, 17, was also fatally shot during J'Ouvert that year, and Carey Gabay, a Gov. Cuomo aide, was killed the year before.