George “Jeffrey” Thompson was remembered today as a father, stepfather, son, and brother who shined like a jewel in his close-knit family until a Dorchester man shot him to death in his Rosseter Street home early last year.

Thompson’s killer, OMAY TAVARES (D.O.B. 4/24/89), was sentenced today to life in prison without the possibility of parole, the mandatory sentence for his conviction yesterday for Thompson’s first-degree murder, plus concurrent sentences for unlawful possession of a firearm and ammunition, Suffolk County District Attorney Daniel F. Conley said.

Before reaching his 21st birthday, Tavares had been convicted twice of unlawful possession of a firearm, once being sentenced to Department of Youth Services custody and once serving a year and a half in a house of corrections. He was convicted a third time yesterday for possessing the 9mm semiautomatic handgun he used to murder Thompson on the night of Jan. 7, 2010.

“Nothing Mr. Thompson did in life could have justified his death at this defendant’s hands, and yet it happened as it’s happened so many times before,” Conley said. “The easy access to illegal firearms and the readiness of young men to use them makes a story like this one all too familiar, but we’re reminded each time of the unique pain it causes to every mother, every child, and every best friend who loses a loved one to gun violence.”

Because of his prior gun convictions, Conley’s office indicted Tavares’ most recent gun charge as a second or subsequent offense. In light of his murder conviction and its mandatory life term, Assistant District Attorney Gretchen Lundgren withdrew that indictment, which would have required a separate trial.

Prior to imposing the sentence, Judge Christine McEvoy heard an impact statement from Thompson’s mother, Doreen Thompson, who spoke haltingly but with poise from the witness stand.

“He was the youngest of my three children,” she said. “It was so hard to look into the eyes of my three grandsons and explain why their father would not be coming back.”

Thompson’s father died of a heart attack just a few weeks after the murder.

“I believe he died of a broken heart,” Doreen Thompson said.

She recalled her son as a cook who poured his heart into Thanksgiving dinner each year and a performer at family gatherings.

“Even now when I go to a show and see the fellows singing and dancing, I just have to leave,” she said. “It hurts my heart to know I will never see him again …. He was so good to so many people.”
Katherine Moran was the DA’s assigned victim-witness advocate. Tavares was represented by attorney John Himmelstein.