Jerry Butler and Daquan Allen sentenced to life in prison for their roles in the murder of William Carter

Tiara James made her feelings clear Thursday for the men convicted of murdering and robbing William Carter, the father of her 1-year-old daughter.

“I know you don’t really care what you did to William, but there are people who do,” James said on the witness stand in Montgomery County Judge William Carpenter’s courtroom. “That night, you took more than just a cell phone from him. You took his life.”

James, holding her child in her arms as she spoke, asked that Jerry Butler and Daquan Allen spend as much time in prison as her daughter must spend growing up without her father, who she said was a good man who never bothered anyone.

Carpenter sentenced the men to life in prison, the mandatory sentence for second-degree murder, and a concurrent sentence of 7 1/2 to 20 years for conspiracy to commit robbery.

Their lawyers, Brooks Thompson and Nicholas Reifsnyder, opposed the life sentences, citing Commonwealth vs Derek Lee, A case that will be argued next month in state Superior Court, which says such sentences are unconstitutional for people involved in fatal robberies who did not commit the killing itself. Neither Butler nor Allen fired the shot that killed Carter.

Carpenter dismissed their objection, saying the Lee case had not yet changed state law.

Butler, 29, and Allen, 30, were convicted Monday of second-degree murder, robbery and conspiracy to kill Carter, whom Allen plotted to rob with the help of Carter’s ex-girlfriend.

Carter’s ex-wife Katerine Emel initiated the robbery, according to trial testimony, because Carter had recently won $3,000 betting on sports events and had stopped paying her rent and car.

Two other men participated in the robbery: Damon Brantley Jr., 18, who shot Carter as he tried to flee, and Justin Davis, 17, who helped attack Carter but later admitted to his crimes and testified against the other three.

The group approached Carter on Wood Street in Norristown on Jan. 20, attacking him as he left James’ house to retrieve something from his car.

Each of the three men who brought the case to court played a specific role in the robbery, prosecutors said.

Allen had previously sold Emel ecstasy and had been involved in a violent confrontation with Carter weeks before her murder, according to evidence presented at trial. Emel, 31, provided Allen with Carter’s location on the day of the murder through a GPS tracker she had placed in a Buick they shared.

Butler was the “muscle,” prosecutors said, and DNA evidence proved he rummaged through Carter’s pockets during the robbery, stealing her cellphone and money.

Brantley provided the gun and the stolen car, and served as the shooter. He was convicted of first-degree murder and will be sentenced in November. He faces between 35 years and life in prison, as he was 17 at the time of the fatal shooting.

At Thursday’s hearing, Carter’s family members described him as a “model of kindness, resilience and unwavering support” and said his death had “plunged (their) family into a sea of ​​grief.”

Assistant District Attorney Meghan Carney later said the sentences handed down to Butler and Allen were appropriate, particularly in light of their lengthy criminal histories for charges including drug and firearm possession and theft.

“He was someone who was a light in this family and they will never see him again,” Carney said. “A life sentence should reflect what they took, a life.”