Man convicted of murdering Mariah Samuels sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole

A Minneapolis man convicted of murdering his ex-girlfriend was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole on Monday.

A jury found 51-year-old David Wright guilty of first-degree premeditated murder, first- and second-degree murder and illegal possession of a firearm last week. The premeditation conviction automatically triggers a life sentence without the possibility of parole.

Wright was scheduled to be sentenced Friday afternoon, but did not show up to court. The judge asked Wright's attorney if he was ill or refusing to show up, but the attorney declined to answer on grounds of attorney-client privilege.

Wright killed 34-year-old Mariah Samuels in September outside her home in the Willard-Hay neighborhood of Minneapolis, minutes after she posted about his abuse on social media. Family members said Samuels had broken up with him after a few months of dating. She had a restraining order against him.

Emotions ran high at the sentencing as loved ones read out loud the pain they've felt inside.

"I miss everything about her: her voice, her laugh, her walk," Samuels' sister, Salina Owens, said.

"No amount of time brings my daughter back, but I am relieved that the perpetrator, David Eugene Wright, will never be able to destroy a family member's life again," Bonita Adams, Samuels' mom, said.

Adams says the heartbreak of losing her daughter has caused serious heart issues.

"They said, 'You're about to go into a massive cardiac arrest and we need to airlift you to the emergency to have heart surgery.'" Adam said.

But she still found it in her heart to forgive Wright.

"I forgive him, and I say I love him," Adams said.

Wright spoke at the sentencing as well.

"I know I did wrong. I think about Mariah still every day," he said.

Samuels' sister Simone Hunter called Wright "a dangerous person" who "should never see the light of day again" after his conviction. 

Friends and family say Wright acted out throughout the trial, including missing previous court dates and removing himself from the stand.

Both Samuels' family and Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty criticized the court for not doing more to ensure Wright showed up at the sentencing.

"This is why people think they can murder people in front of their dad's house and get away with it. There's no repercussions for these things, they don't care about these women who are dying on a daily basis. And the least that they could have done is demanded that he come over here in shackles like the monster that he is," Hunter said Friday. "I'm astounded."

Samuels' family has also accused the Minneapolis Police Department of not doing enough to keep her safe. Chief Brian O'Hara last year ordered her case to be reviewed and officers to be retrained on domestic violence.

For anonymous, confidential help, people can call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233 or 1-800-787-3224.