A New Hampshire man was sentenced to life in prison today following his conviction last week for the murder of 20-year-old Cushings Fortuna on New Year’s Eve 2006, Suffolk County District Attorney Daniel F. Conley announced.

Suffolk Superior Court Judge Frank Gaziano imposed upon SEAN EVELYN (D.O.B. 2/22/86) the mandatory punishment for second-degree murder, life in prison with the possibility of parole after 15 years. Immediately prior to sentencing, Assistant District Attorney Holly Broadbent read aloud an impact statement submitted to the court by Fortuna’s mother.

“Since my son Cushings died, my life has changed forever,” she wrote. “My son was a funny and loving person that cared so much about other people. I miss him so much, especially his smile. I know there is nothing that can bring him back to me, but all I want for him is justice.”

“He had the chance to walk away,” Conley said of Evelyn, who killed Fortuna after a physical confrontation at Boston’s South Station. “He had the chance to go home with his girlfriend and put a stupid altercation behind him. Instead, he made a choice to arm himself with a gun, chase down his victim, and fire round after round into him on a city street. It was a choice he has to live with now.”

Over the course of a weeklong trial, Broadbent proved that Evelyn and Fortuna encountered one another by chance at South Station on the last afternoon of 2006. Apparently because of some prior dispute, Fortuna confronted Evelyn in an altercation that briefly became physical. Evelyn was not physically injured.

In the aftermath of that altercation, the evidence showed, Evelyn returned to his Mercedes Benz, opened a secret compartment under the dashboard, and retrieved the Glock .40 semiautomatic firearm. He then ran after Fortuna, firing two shots at him on Atlantic Avenue and another five near the intersection of South and Beach streets. Three of those five struck Fortuna, killing him.

As Evelyn chased Fortuna down, Evelyn’s girlfriend fled the scene in his Mercedes Benz. Boston Police responding to 911 reports of the shooting spotted the vehicle and pulled it over a short distance away. Evelyn subsequently surrendered to police on Jan. 2, 2007.

Evelyn was represented by attorney John Hayes.