A 23-year-old man who was convicted Tuesday of the murder of an alleged rival inside of a Dorchester convenience store, which was caught in entirety on a surveillance video tape, was today sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole, Suffolk County District Attorney Daniel F. Conley announced.

Suffolk Superior Court jurors deliberated for one full day, before finding JOSE DELACRUZ (D.O.B. 9/7/85) guilty of first-degree murder and unlawful possession of a firearm for the Feb. 8, 2007 fatal shooting of Tyrice Brown as he sat on an icebox chatting with an acquaintance in the 24 Seven convenience store.

Superior Court Judge Charles T. Spurlock imposed the mandatory sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole for the murder conviction, and a concurrent sentence of up to five years for the firearm conviction.

Prior to sentencing, two of Brown’s family members told the court about the impact the shooting had on their lives.

Lashonda Brown, the victim’s cousin, spoke first.

“There isn’t a day that goes by that we don’t miss Tyrice,” she said. “This is horrible. This is the worst thing that anyone can do to anybody,” Lashonda Brown said, referring to the shooting. “You don’t do that to another human being.”

“I miss Tyrice, and I love him,” she continued. “He will never be forgotten.”

Tyrice Brown’s aunt, Katrina Gastis, spoke next. She read a letter for the court that Tyrice Brown had written to one of the leaders of a Boston youth program asking to be let into the program for a second time. Gastis read his words to the court.

“I’m writing to ask you to reconsider letting me back into YouthBuild, because I never had a real chance to succeed at something,” he wrote at the time.

“I’ve never had a chance to take control of my future,” he wrote. “Now that I have one, I don’t want to risk the chances of letting somebody take my spot. Not saying they don’t deserve it, but I know in my heart I wanted it more than anybody in the program.”

“I’m trying to take advantage of this opportunity. I’m not trying to let it slip through my fingertips like I have done in the past,” he continued. “I got two nephews and whether I like it or not, they look up to me as a father figure. I want to set a positive example for them…I don’t have any kids, but time after time I’m watching them and I look at them as my own.”

“YouthBuild is my chance to change the game in a positive way. I would really appreciate the opportunity to do so,” he concluded.

After reading the letter to the court, Gastis expressed how much she missed her nephew, and told the defendant that she forgave him because “Tyrice would have forgiven you.”

Assistant District Attorney Amy Galatis proved during the course of a weeklong trial that, in the early morning hours of Feb. 8, 2007, Delacruz entered the convenience store to purchase several items. Brown was sitting on an icebox inside of the store, talking with an acquaintance. Delacruz brought some items to the counter to pay for them, but left abruptly before completing the sale, only to return moments later with a gun.

Delacruz walked up to Brown, and shot him four times at close range; those shots broke Brown’s arm, penetrated his shoulder and lung, severed an artery in his torso, and crashed through his chest, causing injuries that claimed his life in a matter of minutes.

Immediately following the shooting, Delacruz fled the scene in a vehicle; he later fled the state.

In the course of a Suffolk County Grand Jury investigation, prosecutors and Boston Police homicide detectives identified the shooter depicted in the store surveillance footage. On March 27, 2007, Delacruz was apprehended in Wilmington, Delaware.

In a subsequent interview with Boston Police detectives, Delacruz gave officers several different alibis of his whereabouts on the date of the shooting. After being confronted with his inconsistencies and the video surveillance tape, Delacruz allegedly admitted to shooting Brown, because he believed it was Brown who had shot him a month before the homicide.

Delacruz was represented by attorney Robert Griffin. Proceedings took place in courtroom 914 of the Suffolk Superior Court.