A gunman who opened fire at a Grand Rapids home, killing a man who was “in the wrong place at the wrong time’’ was sentenced Tuesday to between 24 and 66 years in prison.
Allijha David Ashley was after another man when he sprayed the house on Dickinson Street near College Avenue SE with gunfire using a .45 caliber pistol.
Killed in the March 2015 barrage was 28-year-old Donavin Lamar Guy, who was visiting. He was struck by bullets that came crashing through a lower level window.
“We can say he was there at the wrong time and at the wrong place. But my question is – what is the right time? What is the right place?’’ the victim’s father, Terry L. Green said at sentencing Tuesday.
He described Guy as a loving family man raising three young sons.
“He will not be at their graduations from daycare, graduation from preschool, from middle school. That’s all gone,’’ Green told the court.
The shooting took place about 12:52 a.m. on March 4, 2015; several people were in the home at the time, including children sleeping upstairs.
“You killed, in effect, the wrong person,’’ Kent County Circuit Court Judge Donald A. Johnston said.
Guy and two others were involved; one helped arrange the hit and the other served as a driver. Ashley’s two co-defendants were sentenced to prison earlier this year.
Ashley’s attorney apologized on his behalf.
“Although Donavin’s father said he forgave him, he would like to personally ask for his forgiveness,’’ defense attorney Callista Gloss said. “Allijha’s family is going to be affected by this. He is going to be going away for quite some time.’’
Johnston sentenced Ashley to a mandatory two years for using a gun in the commission of a felony. Once that term is finished, he’ll begin serving a 22 to 66-year sentence for second degree murder.
Ashley, 20, pleaded guilty in July with the recommendation that he serve a minimum of 24 years.
“He’ll be out in his 40s,’’ the victim’s father said. “My son is gone. He will never be here. The pain -- I just cannot describe it.’’