A Dorchester teen today admitted he was one of two drive-by gunmen who fired on a group on Wilcock Street in Mattapan two years ago, killing 49-year-old Fred Bing, Suffolk County District Attorney Daniel F. Conley said.

DAMANTE BURRELL (D.O.B. 9/5/92) pleaded guilty to manslaughter and unlawful possession of a firearm at an emotional hearing in Suffolk Superior Court this morning, accepting a prison term of 15 to 25 years after apologizing to Bing’s family. His co-defendant is expected to face trial on first-degree murder charges next month.

“I understand he’s a young man,” said Fred Bing’s brother, James Bing, prior to sentencing. “I hope he takes an opportunity to become a better man when he gets out. Complete your education. Take part in the programs. Show your family you’re worth fighting for.”

James Bing also recalled what he lost when his brother was taken.

“I miss my brother,” he said. “I miss laughing with him in the morning time and joking with him in the evening … My mother has suffered so much for the last two years.”

Conley noted the tragic irony of Bing’s death in retaliation for an incident he had no role in.

“By every single account, Mr. Bing was a good brother, a good son, and a good friend,” Conley said. “He was wholly uninvolved in the violence that ultimately claimed his life. We can only hope that his loved ones can find some comfort in this defendant’s admissions and punishment and the direction the case now takes.”

Burrell apologized for his actions, first through his attorney, who said he was “very, very remorseful and sorry,” and then in his own low voice.

Had the case proceeded to trial on the first-degree murder charge for which he was indicted, Assistant District Attorney Ian Polumbaum told the court, prosecutors would have introduced evidence and testimony to prove that Burrell was 16 years old when he joined three older men in a minivan and traveled to Wilcock Street on the night of May 13, 2009.

The older companions had been close friends with 16-year-old Terrence Jacobs, who was murdered in a 2007 incident “that began on Wilcock Street and spilled around the corner,” Polumbaum said. In that case, Jacobs’ assailants beat, kicked, and stabbed him to death; four men were later convicted of his murder and are serving life terms for it.

At about 10:20 pm on the night of Bing’s shooting, Polumbaum said, Burrell and another man fired multiple shots from their van at a group of people standing on Wilcock Street. Bing was among that group. Burrell raised himself up through the front passenger window and fired several shots across the roof from a 9mm handgun. Another man fired a .22 caliber rifle.

The group scattered at the sound of gunfire, Polumbaum said. No one called 911, but the city’s ShotSpotter system activated and Boston Police responded within minutes. The officers saw no victims at the scene and Bing’s friends thought he had gone home.

“Fred Bing had been on Blue Hill Avenue earlier that night and was with that group for only a short time,” Polumbaum said. Bing had no role at all in Jacobs’ homicide.

Police obtained a description of the van and soon found it parked on nearby Estella Street. The engine was warm and the roof had a gouge from one of the 9mm rounds striking it from right to left. There were shell casings inside the van and caught on a windshield wiper that would later match casings at the Wilcock Street scene.

Police were drawn to an occupied Acura nearby when it backed up, struck another vehicle, and sped away; when they stopped it, it contained Burrell and three others, including his eventual codefendant and another man who was sitting on the keys to the minivan.

Early the next morning Bing’s body was found in a nearby driveway, where he had been obscured from view by a porch and a vehicle. Bullets had struck him in the foot, thigh and torso.

A search of Estella Street turned up the handgun and the rifle stashed in an alley. These guns matched ballistics evidence from the van and the crime scene. Investigators could not determine which weapon fired any of the shots that struck Bing.

Witness accounts, a GPS tracking device on Burrell’s ankle, and his own post-Miranda statements led to his indictment in July 2009. His co-defendant and alleged fellow gunman, ABIONA JUSTICE SHARPE (D.O.B. 6/3/89), was arrested in New Jersey on July 21. His trial is scheduled to start April 6.

Catherine Rodriguez was the DA’s assigned victim-witness advocate. Burrell was represented by attorney J.W. Carney, Jr. Judge Regina Quinlan presided over the proceedings.