One of two men who shot 29-year-old Urel Duncan to death in 2007 was sentenced to life in prison today, setting the stage for his co-defendant’s trial next year, Suffolk County District Attorney Daniel F. Conley said today.

At sentencing this morning for DEMETRIUS WARDSWORTH (D.O.B. 12/26/88) of Roxbury, Duncan’s mother, Sandra Duncan, said her son “did everything he was supposed to do in his life. He went to school and he didn’t miss a day. He never got in any trouble. He started working when he was 13 years old and he never stopped working.”

Wardsworth was convicted of first-degree murder and armed assault with intent to murder for traveling to Codman Park with a second man and firing on Duncan and a second victim, then 19, who survived his injuries. Duncan was killed in the Sept. 20, 2007, incident, while the second man suffered a less serious gunshot wound. Prosecutors say that neither victim was involved in gangs, drugs, or crime and that both victims were selected at random by the gunmen.

In addition to handing down the mandatory punishment for first-degree murder, Judge Stephen Neel sentenced Wardsworth to terms of eight to 10 years for the attempted murder charge and three to four years for unlawful possession of a firearm.

“We’ll never understand the motivation for a crime like this,” Conley said. “No feud and no rivalry can justify the cold-blooded murder we saw here.”

Duncan’s mother told the court that the last words her son said to her were spoken moments before he died near the stoop of his housing development.

“The last thing I said to him was, ‘Boy, are you sitting on the steps again?’ And he said, ‘I’m just cooling off from exercising.’ He was my only son …. My daughter, she lost her brother, and his son, he lost a father. He was five years old at the time.”

Evidence and testimony introduced by Assistant District Attorney Gretchen Lundgren of Conley’s Homicide Unit proved that Wardsworth was one of two men who approached 60-62 Codman Park on foot shortly before 9:00 p.m. on Sept. 20, 2007. Present on the stoop of that address were the 29-year-old Duncan and a friend, then 19, who were enjoying the weather and each other’s company.

A surveillance camera close to the scene showed two men in hooded sweatshirts – one in gray and one in black, both with dark colored pants – producing firearms and pointing them at the victims, then fleeing the scene.

Less than an hour after the shooting, members of the Boston Police Youth Violence Strike Force stopped two men matching those descriptions. Subsequently identified as Daughtry and Wardsworth, they were both nervous and sweating; Wardsworth was visibly shaking. When separated and questioned, they gave contradictory statements and alibis that were later proven to be false.

Both men were released so police and prosecutors could continue the investigation. That investigation proceeded on the street and behind the doors of the Suffolk County Grand Jury, which indicted both men in early 2008.

Wardsworth was represented by attorney Robert Galibois II. Jennifer Stott was the victim-witness advocate assigned to Duncan’s family.

A second defendant, SHAWN “SHANKS” DAUGHTRY (D.O.B. 5/14/80), is expected to face his own trial for Duncan’s homicide next year. He is represented by attorney Barry Wilson.