BOSTON, Sept. 12, 2014—A Dorchester man will spend at least the next 15 years in prison for shooting 28-year-old Shawnray Taylor to death during a fistfight, Suffolk County District Attorney Daniel F. Conley said.

ANDREW BRITT (D.O.B. 3/24/94) today admitted to manslaughter and unlawfully possessing the firearm used in Taylor’s fatal shooting.  Judge Thomas Connors imposed the sentence recommended by Assistant District Attorney Tonya Platt of 15 to 18 years in prison for manslaughter and a concurrent sentence of four to five years on the firearm charge.

Had the case proceeded to trial on the indicted charge of second-degree murder, prosecutors would have introduced evidence and testimony to prove that Taylor, Britt, and others were at a Copeland Street apartment on Dec. 11, 2012, when Taylor became involved in a dispute with a woman who attempted to prevent Taylor from striking another woman.  Britt soon inserted himself into the dispute and the two men took part in a physical fight.

Platt told the court that Britt pulled out a revolver during the course of that fight and shot Taylor, who was unarmed, once in the upper chest.

Taylor collapsed to the ground. Others at the scene – assisted by a 911 operator – attempted to save his life, but he succumbed to his injuries.

A warrant for Britt’s arrest was issued on Dec. 14, and he was located and arrested on Jan. 15, 2013.

In emotional impact statements, Taylor’s relatives recalled a free-spirited and caring person whose life was cut short by gun violence.

“I hope and pray that my family can find some sense of peace and forgiveness in their hearts, because if they carry this type of hate and animosity for the rest of their lives, it will destroy them,” Taylor’s father told the court.  “I know that if a gun hadn’t been in the mix, things wouldn’t have ended up this way.  High emotions and guns don’t mix.”

“All these young people have guns, and I detest the fact that this country lets this go on and on and on,” he said.

“It’s so senseless,” Taylor’s sister said in a tearful impact statement.  “He didn’t deserve to die.  He should be here with my family.”

At the time of the shooting, Britt was free on bail for a July 13, 2012, stabbing.  In that case, he was asked to leave a post-funeral gathering on Blue Hill Avenue after the relative made a scene.  Britt became involved in a physical altercation with one of the Post’s volunteers, then pulled out a knife and stabbed the man once in the side, causing a puncture wound and cracked rib. At his arraignment, prosecutors recommended that he be held on $10,000 cash bail, and a judge imposed $1,000. He was ultimately sentenced to three years in state prison following his conviction in that case.

Assistant District Attorney Masai King, chief of the DA’s Major Felony Bureau, second-seated Platt.  Jillian Quigley was the DA’s assigned victim-witness advocate.  Britt was represented by attorney Thomas Ford.

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All defendants are presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.