**Mariah Samuels pictures among family photos.** Photo by Azhae’la Hanson

By Azhae’la Hanson, Reporter

David Wright was sentenced to life in prison without parole on April 21 for the murder of his ex-girlfriend, Mariah Samuels, in North Minneapolis last September.

He was found guilty on all counts, including first-degree premeditated murder, first-degree murder, and past pattern of domestic violence.

The conviction was handed down the week after Wright took to the stand and admitted to the court that he shot and killed Samuels outside of her North Minneapolis home.

The sentencing hearing was initially scheduled for April 16; however, it was rescheduled to the following Monday after he refused to leave his cell.

His life sentence included paying $7,500 in restitution to the family by way of prison labor.

**At the end of the formal sentencing on April 20, Mariah Samuels' family gathered in the Hennepin County Government Center lobby for a prayer circle.** Photo By Azhae’la Hanson

Samuel's family packed the courtroom on Monday afternoon, dressed in purple, her favorite color, and gave emotional victim impact statements.

Her family described Samuels as a rare and beautiful soul. Someone who was non-judgmental and had a smile that would light up the room. She was sarcastic and stubborn at times. She loved animals and ran her pet grooming business “Clean Paws.” She sold Rotel dip and fruit cups. She loved being a “boy mom” to her two sons. She loved butterflies. Her mom said her biggest strength was love.

“The ways in which this has impacted our village are massive," said Mariah's cousin, Demi Callender. "We are left to pick up the pieces, and while justice was served, it is bittersweet, because those baby boys will never get to hug their mother again. Mariah's dad will never get to say, 'Good night, baby girl. I love you again. Her mother will never get to speak scriptures to her again. Her sister will probably wail and cry out to God in agony for the rest of her life, because no amount of time can truly heal this wound."

Throughout the series of statements given, the family closed their eyes and tightly clutched their hands together. Some held their heads high, some low. Some called on the lord under their breath. Some wept quietly. At times, some laughed at the memories that they shared.

Several people told Judge Mark Kappelhoff that they were a God-fearing family. When Salina Owens Samuel's older sister spoke, she took a deep breath before she made a statement directed at Wright.

**Before she went down to host a celebration of Wright's guilty verdict, Salina Owens, Samuel's big sister, put on butterfly earrings and purple eyeshadow in remembrance of her late sister.** Photo by Azhae’la Hanson

“Throughout this trial, I struggled with something,” she said. I couldn't find it in my heart to hate the defendant. I was confused by that…I choose forgiveness,” she told the judge. “I forgive the defendant.”

A silence that felt like the family was waiting to exhale broke. Small gasps of air seeped into the quiet. Some broke down and held each other.

By their faith, Owens said she had chosen to forgive Wright. A slideshow of photos of Samuels were played. The prosecution called Wright a coward to the judge. Wright looked up from his hands to the slideshow and apologized before the sentencing.

“You committed a premeditated, senseless, and brutal murder of Mariah Samuels," Kappelhoff said to Wright. "You planned her murder, you lay in wait for her, and you shot her to death while she sat helpless in her car. All because she was a strong, confident woman who had decided to end her relationship with you three weeks earlier. She told you no, and you couldn't accept that.”

The trial had finally concluded after a month of the family enduring the brutal evidence presented of Samuel's murder.

Forgiveness doesn’t negate justice. It’s a word that her younger sister Simone Hunter couldn’t come to terms with.

“Justice would have looked like the day that he decided to put his hands on her; he should have been in jail the same day,” Hunter said. “Justice would look like Mariah still being alive today. I want to say justice was served, but I can't find that word in me.”

Samuels's family said she did all she could to protect herself from Wright. Weeks prior to the shooting, Samuels filed a protection order against him. She recorded domestic abuse and harassment online from Wright up until her final hours, saying that the Minneapolis Police Department did nothing but serve him the order of protection.

Following her murder on Sept. 14, nearly 200 mourners marched to the 4th Precinct to remember Samuels and demand answers to how the justice system failed a woman who sought police help. Mayor Jacob Frey, Police Chief Brian O'Hara, and Community Safety Commissioner Todd Barnett were criticized for what seemed to be a preventable tragedy.

“The officer who responded to Mariah's call wrote in his report that Mariah told him she felt safe,” Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty said in a press conference following the verdict on Friday. “But the video revealed in the officer's body cam showed that she never said that. The look of resignation on Mariah's face as the officer said he was leaving is something I will never forget.”

Her case has been compared to several others who reported their harassers to police, and supporters say they were ignored by the department. The same officer who made the initial contact with Samuels responded after the shooting and tried to revive her, a family member said, and the officer repeatedly apologized.

"This conviction holds David Wright legally accountable for the murder of Mariah Samuels, but we shouldn't even be here today,” Moriarty continued. "Mariah should be alive, doing what she loved to do, spending time with her family, taking care of the animals she loved so dearly.”

Both Hunter and Owens said the family will be advocating for new policies and laws to help victims of domestic violence. During a press conference following the sentencing, they provided no comment on actions taken so far to hold MPS accountable for her death.

During the victim statements, Owens recalled Samuels asking her why everyone called her “Salinas little sister” instead of her name.

“Mariah Rosana Samuels, we cried your name, we screamed your name, in the same street that raised you,” she said tearfully. “We will carry your name with us forever. We watched you go from a cocoon to a butterfly. Fly on, sister fly.”

Ex-boyfriend gets life sentence for the murder of Mariah Samuels