2 Men Sentenced To Life In Prison For Shooting Death Of Boston Youth Worker

Two men convicted in the shooting death of an innocent bystander at a Boston street festival in 2014 have been sentenced to life in prison.

Keith Williams, 21, and Wesson Colas, 25, were sentenced in Suffolk Superior Court on Monday after being convicted of first-degree murder last month in the death of 26-year-old Dawnn Jaffier.

Prosecutors say the men were rivals who confronted each other with guns near a Caribbean festival in Dorchester. Prosecutors say Williams fired the shot that killed the city youth worker.

Prosecutors said Colas was responsible because he participated in the gun battle even though he didn't fire the fatal shot.

Jaffier's brother said during Monday's sentencing hearing that his sister's death has changed his life forever.

Her father, Ian Jaffier, lamented that he will never see his "superstar" again.

He also implored young men in Boston to “put down the guns."

"Instead of going around shooting people, try to be somebody," he said, according to a statement from the Suffolk district attorney's office. "Make your family proud. Make your community proud.”

“We never met Dawnn, so what we know of her comes from her family, her friends, and the kids across the city who loved her,” Suffolk District Attorney Dan Conley said in the statement. "Through them we see a strong, compassionate, inspirational young woman. We see someone who changed lives and made Boston a better place. We see her grace and dignity in those who loved her most, and we ask that their message be heard – on the streets of Boston and in the halls of Congress alike.”

With reporting by The Associated Press and the WBUR Newsroom