Murder Trial Sentencing: Manuel Rosas Gets 94 Years 8 months in Prison

Seven years ago, Wayne Minten was riding his bike down Palm Avenue when he was fatally gunned down.

It wasn't until 2009 that Manuel Rosas, now 25, was jailed in South Carolina, a tip connecting him with the cold blooded murder of 18-year-old Minten.

His family celebrated the guilty verdict which was returned by the jury in June, and today, they have reason to celebrate again: not only is it their late son's birthday, his murderer was sentenced to 94 years and 8 months in prison.

The sentencing had been scheduled for September 13th, but on the day before, the defense attorney filed a motion for a re-trial. The motion was denied, and the sentence for 94 years and 8 months to life came instead.

Minten's mother wrote in her impact letter to the judge, "Your Honor, I have waited for this day for a while now in fact it has been 7 years, 4 months, 2 weeks and 5 days since Manuel Rosas committed this cowardly and heinous act...

I must admit I was very mad at Mr. Martinez for filing a motion for re-trial in the afternoon the day before Manuel Rosas was to be sentenced, a few weeks ago in September.  Now I would like to thank Mr. Martinez for postponing sentencing until today. Having the sentencing on this day kind of brings things full circle. You see your honor, today is Wayne’s birthday. Today Wayne would be 26 years old."

She also detailed the night of his murder, and remembers that she was in the kitchen cooking dinner when she heard the sirens and one of her son's friends came running to the door. The murder happened just a few blocks from their home.

"The moment I realized that Wayne was dead, I howled in grief. I dropped to my knees. The only thing that came out of my mouth was No! no! no! no! no! no!  Why!? Why!? Why!? I remember the sobbing came from a place inside of me that was so deep, a place that I had no idea existed. Since that evening of Friday May 13th 2005, I’ve had a pain in my heart. My chest hurts, my heart aches, it is an ache that is so deep and so heavy It‘s hard to put it in words. It’s a hollow feeling with enormous grief thrown on top.  I have had this overwhelming feeling for 7 years now," she wrote.