Two men were sentenced today for unrelated Boston homicides in 2007 and 2010, with one taking a mandatory life term following his conviction for murder and the other accepting up to 14½ years in state prison rather than go to trial, Suffolk County District Attorney Daniel F. Conley said.

Superior Court Judge Frank Gaziano sentenced EMMANUEL DASILVA (D.O.B. 10/24/84) of Dorchester to life in prison without the possibility of parole after a jury convicted him Friday of first-degree murder for the Feb. 13, 2007, shooting death of 21-year-old Fausto Sanchez. Dasilva is the second man to be convicted of Sanchez’ murder.

In addition to the murder charge, Dasilva was convicted of multiple counts of armed assault with intent to murder, assault with a dangerous weapon, and assault and battery with a dangerous weapon for shooting at Sanchez’ four friends, striking two of them. At the request of Assistant District Attorney Julie Higgins, Gaziano imposed a consecutive 15- to 17-year sentence for injuries to one of those victims, who was left permanently disabled by gunshot wounds to his back, side, and arm.

Sanchez’ mother and sister provided statements to the court describing the effect of his death on their lives.

“The death of my son has impacted me negatively,” the slain man’s mother said through a Spanish translator. “I spent four and a half years without being able to sleep or eat. I was not able to accept that my son was dead …. I pray to God that people who are on the street don’t hurt anyone anymore. My son didn’t give trouble to anyone. He was everything to me.”

Sanchez’ sister provided a written statement to the court, which Higgins read aloud.

“My brother’s murder has changed my life,” she wrote. “He was my only sibling. Even though we had many disagreements, we were always there for each other because we were all we had. Now I am reminded daily of everything I wish he could be here to see me do. He won’t be able to. I have a void that will never be filled.”

Higgins and Assistant District Attorney Mark Zanini proved at Dasilva’s trial that the defendant and his uncle, JOSEPH GOMES (D.O.B. 4/20/67), were looking for another man whom they believed was responsible for firing shots in the area of Dasilva’s Langdon Street home.

Neither Sanchez nor his friends were involved in that incident, the evidence showed, but they happened to be standing in the vicinity of that man’s residence when Dasilva and Gomes drove up to them on Maywood Street and fired a volley of shots at them before speeding away. Sanchez was mortally wounded; the others were less seriously injured.

Gomes and Dasilva went to trial together on Nov. 15, 2010. Their cases were severed on Dec. 1, when Dasilva’s attorney took ill and his case was declared a mistrial. Gomes was found guilty of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole and 17 to 18 additional years in prison for the attempted murder of the victim left disabled by the attack.

Also today, Judge Peter Lauriat sentenced JULIO MARISCAL (D.O.B. 12/1/70) to a sentence of 14 to 14½ years in state prison for the April 3, 2010, stabbing death of 40-year-old Jose Villalta inside Mariscal’s Allston home. Mariscal pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter Wednesday as jurors were being empanelled for his second-degree murder trial.

Villalta’s eldest daughter and his cousin delivered statements to the court through a Spanish translator at the sentencing hearing today. Villalta’s daughter told the court about the family’s difficulties since her father’s death.

“He was the one who worked to maintain a family of six,” she said, adding that her mother now works in the fields of El Salvador to support the younger children.

“It has been a long painful experience. My family is totally destroyed,” Villalta’s cousin said. “He was a very responsible person for his family – he had six children. I believe in justice and that [the defendant] must pay for what he did,” she said.

Had the case gone to trial, Assistant District Attorney Ursula Knight would have proven that Mariscal stabbed Villalta in the chest during an argument inside Mariscal’s Mansfield Street home after a night of drinking.

The knife penetrated Villalta’s lungs and stomach and pierced his heart. Villalta was found a short time later near the intersection of Mansfield and Lincoln streets, mortally wounded. The knife was also there, with the victim’s blood on its blade and that of an unknown person on the handle.

Emergency medical technicians rushed Villalta to Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, where he died of his injuries early on the morning of April 4. Later that same day, Boston Police homicide detectives received a call indicating that Villalta’s killer lived at an address on Mansfield Street. Armed with that information, Boston Police soon tracked Mariscal down and saw he had a large, fresh cut on his hand. The blood on the knife handle was later found to contain Mariscal’s DNA.

Katherine Moran was the DA’s assigned victim-witness advocate for the Villalta family; Jennifer Sears was the DA’s assigned victim-witness advocate for the Sanchez family. Mariscal was represented by attorney Denise Regan. Dasilva was represented by attorney Timothy Bradl.