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Cayuga Court Judge Thomas Leone on Monday sentenced Shameek Copes, 28, to 25 years to life in prison for murdering John Wesley Smith, 37, outside Swifty's Tavern on Perrine Street in Auburn around 1:40 a.m. , 2022.

Copes, who has maintained her innocence, expressed condolences to Smith's loved ones on Monday. Rome Canzano, Copes' attorney, asked the judge for a sentence below the maximum, while the Cayuga County District Attorney's Office sought the maximum punishment. In an email to 有料盒子 after Monday's sentencing, Canzano said Copes intends to appeal the conviction.

Copes, of 1 Jefferson St., Apt. 1, was convicted in January of second-degree murder and second-degree criminal possession of a weapon. Leone sentenced Copes to 15 years in prison followed by five years of post-release supervision on the weapon charge. The sentences will run concurrently.

鈥淲e are pleased with the just and fair sentence imposed by the Court and hope that imposition of the maximum sentence will bring the victim鈥檚 family a sense of closure and justice," District Attorney Brittany Grome Antonacci said in a news release. 鈥淲e have seen too many senseless acts of gun violence, not only in our community, but across the state. Our office, along with our law enforcement partners, are committed to seeking justice in these cases."

During the weeklong trial, the prosecution called about 20 witnesses and rested its case on a Thursday afternoon. The defense did not call any witnesses. After closing remarks and jury instructions, jurors delivered their verdict in about two hours.聽

The defense contended that Copes' guilt has not been proven beyond a reasonable doubt, in part because no witnesses testified that they saw her possess a gun or shoot and kill Smith. Noting that five shots were fired before three more shots were fired, the defense also suggested that the case was an accident.

The prosecution said the first five shots came from a third person charged in the incident, Junnell Copes, who is related to Shameek. Junnell was in a vehicle outside the bar at the time. Prosecutors have called Junnell Copes the "catalyst" for what happened. Prosecutors also pointed to video evidence from the bar's circuit surveillance cameras, which shows Copes going into the women's bathroom with a person who testified he gave her his gun. Video then shows her walking out of the bar's front door and turning left just before Smith, who is visible in a window to the left of the door, falls down.

Three gun shots can be heard as that is happening. A zoomed-in still frame from a video camera positioned above the exterior of the front door also shows a gun being held by an arm with visible tattoos that appears to match Copes' arm.

Prior to the trial, Copes rejected a plea offer in which the prosecution would have agreed to a sentence of 22 years to life on the murder charge.

Copes became the primary suspect in Smith's death early in the investigation. On March 21, the Auburn Police Department issued a news release saying they wanted to speak with Copes, who was called a "person of interest" at that point. Days later, police declared Copes a suspect in Smith's shooting death. An arrest warrant was then issued, and Copes, who left the state after the shooting, turned herself in to the Rock Hill Police Department in Rock Hill, South Carolina, on March 28.

The court heard four statements of family and friends of Smith prior to the sentencing delivered on Monday, including remarks from the mother of his children and his daughter.

His girlfriend at the time of his death provided a written statement that was read into the record.

"Do you know what have you done to his family? To my family? To his children? To my children? To the mother of his kids and me? You have taken him away from all of us," the statement said. "You have taken the ability for him to provide for his children. You left his children without a father. You shot him multiple times in his favorite shirt that we got on our vacation trip. You ended up shooting him once in the heart and grazed his face too. Do you know what me and his family had to see at the morgue? Do you know how does it feel to hug a body of a loved one knowing he can never open his eyes and smile at you? Yet alone give you a hug? Do you know how it feels to watch a casket close on the person that you love? And yet you stand there and want to argue your reasonings?"

In the news release, Grome Antonacci commended the people who provided victim impact statements "for their bravery in standing up and speaking." She also praised the Auburn Police Department and New York State Police for their work on the investigation.