Man takes plea deal for his role in deadly 2012 Port Allen shooting

BATON ROUGE, LA (WAFB) - The same day E'Tan Irving, 28, found out he would soon be a father, he lost his life when he was shot to death at a gas station in West Baton Rouge in May 2012.

On Monday, the man who killed him, Carl Richardson, 23, made a last minute deal to avoid trial.

"My client had shot the victim twice, once in the back of the head and once in the back," said Richardson's attorney Tommy Damico.

Richardson was charged with one count of second-degree murder. He asked for a bench trial, meaning no jury. But Monday morning, Richardson pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of manslaughter. He was sentenced to 10 years with credit for the four years he's already served since his arrest.

"I'm glad he's at least getting some time," said Irving's sister Michelle Owens.

"No amount of time they give him can bring him back. It just hurt. It just hurt," said Irving's mother Mary Craig, who had a difficult time pulling it together in court. "I remember him smiling at me and just making jokes with me and making me laugh. The day he was murdered, he had just found out he was going to have a baby."

It was very emotional inside the courtroom as the victim's family gave their victim impact statements. Afterwards, Richardson did apologize to the victim's family.

"I'd like to apologize. I wish the situation could have gone a different way. I do care," said Richardson.

"It's no amount of words he could stand up there he's sorry. You not sorry because you had a chance to think about what you done and you did it anyways," said Craig.

Debra Richardson, Richardson's mother, said she was thankful her son would be coming home soon after his sentence. As for the victim's family, Richardson said, "I'm sorry for that. I'm sorry for that. I'm sorry. I really mean that. I'm sorry that this happened. If I could take it back, I would."

"She still has her grandchildren. I got to talk to my son at the grave. That hurts. Nobody knows how much that hurts," said Craig.

It's a pain one mother has to endure but said she does have some peace knowing they do not have to sit through a trial.

Because Richardson only has to serve 85 percent of his 10-year sentence, he has about 4.5 more years to serve.

Copyright 2016 WAFB. All Rights Reserved.