The family of Herman Taylor III, a promising young student shot to death in what prosecutors called a “gang war,” today told his killer, his allies, and their rivals that the senseless violence that took the youth’s life must stop.

“Our young people and their parents need to get the facts straight,” Taylor’s mother said as LAMORY GRAY (D.O.B. 10/15/85) was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for Taylor’s 2006 murder. “You own no streets or corners or blocks.”

Sarah Coleman wept as she recalled her son: a talented student, a promising athlete, and a mentor for other young people. She also blasted the culture of violence that claimed such a beloved young man at just 18 years old and then wrote him off as collateral damage.

“Hearing ‘He was a casualty’ to describe my son hurts me,” she said. “It sickens me. My son died in a horrible way without any family around him. Herman was not ready to die and we were not ready to lose him. He had a dream and you took it away …. As the Bible says, you reap what you sow. Today the judgment should be severe and I hope God has mercy on your soul.”

Taylor’s sister, Marisa Luse, recalled him as a leader.

“He was an example of how one young black man can make a change in his community,” she said, remembering his skills as a compassionate mentor to other teens who earned the respect of teachers and peers alike. “He was not an aspiring thug. Rather, Herman Taylor III exuded love. He was courageous.”

A second sister voiced her frustration that Taylor – who was not a gang member, had never been in trouble, and had no enemies – was gunned down despite his family’s efforts to shield him from street violence. She said she constantly asks herself what she could have done to achieve a different outcome.

“The fact is that my brother did exactly what he should have been doing and still his life was taken by a person who had such little regard for human life,” Tomisha Coleman said. “It is very cold and unfair that a person would do something like this to anyone, let alone a positive young black male role model.”

Also present for today’s sentencing hearing in courtroom 906 were faculty members from Belmont High School, where Taylor was a student through the METCO program. They did not speak, but comforted Taylor’s survivors during the presentation of impact statements.

Suffolk County District Attorney Daniel F. Conley, whose office led the grand jury probe that identified Gray as Taylor’s killer after more than a year of investigation with Boston Police homicide detectives, praised the family’s fortitude and echoed their frustration.

“What we saw in Herman’s family was immense grace and dignity in the face of the ultimate loss,” Conley said. “How many more Herman Taylors do we have to lose before our young men put down their guns? How many Soheil Turners? How many Steven Odoms? How many more innocent, irreplaceable children have to die before the gunfire stops? And how many young men will grow old and die in prison before they get the message that this is not a game?”

Evidence and testimony introduced by Assistant District Attorney Masai King during Gray’s trial proved that Gray was a member of a street gang based on Heath Street and a sworn enemy of another street gang based near Taylor’s Crawford Street home. On July 12, 2006, the evidence showed, Gray went to Humboldt Avenue on a “mission” to kill a rival.

Gray either didn’t know or didn’t care that Taylor was not involved in the feud, which had already claimed dozens of victims by the summer of 2006. He approached Taylor, engaged the young man in a brief conversation, and produced a revolver. As Taylor ran from the gunfire, Gray calmly steadied his aim, fired two additional shots, and felled the youth with a gunshot to his abdomen.

Despite the efforts of a Good Samaritan who scooped up the teen and drove him to the hospital, Taylor died of his injury.

Boston Police homicide detectives were met with a wall of silence when they undertook a far-reaching investigation into Taylor’s slaying. It was not until more than a year later, when a series of witnesses were forced to testify under oath in the Suffolk County Special Grand Jury, that investigators obtained enough evidence to charge Gray with Taylor’s murder.

Several of those witnesses minimized or claimed to have forgotten their grand jury testimony when called to testify at trial. In response, King confronted them with their earlier statements and read them into the record for jurors to hear. After more than two full days of deliberations, the jury credited those witnesses’ prior testimony and found Gray guilty of first-degree murder on Friday.

King was second-seated by Assistant District Attorney Craig Iannini. Gray was represented by attorney James Budreau. Judge Frank Gaziano presided over the trial.