Man convicted in shooting of 2-year-old boy sentenced in Bronx to 25 years

MELROSE, Bronx (WABC) -- A mother came face-to-face with the man who shot her 2-year-old son, all while the convicted killer maintained his innocence.

"This is a parent's worst nightmare to have to bury their child. You are a coward in my eyes," said Joanne Sanabria, the victim's mother.

That was only part of the fireworks inside of a Bronx courtroom as 10 years of emotion boiled over.

Darryl Hemphill was sentenced Wednesday to 25 years behind bars for murdering a toddler, but if anyone thought Hemphill was going to show remorse or accept responsibility they could think again.

"I did not commit this murder, I am no criminal, I have been framed," Hemphill said.

It was Easter Sunday 2006, when 2-year-old David Pacheco, Jr., was caught in the crossfire of a shootout.

The bullet tore through the minivan he was strapped into, hitting him in the chest.

Prosecutors say the gunfire was in retaliation over a street fight earlier in the day.

Another person was initially charged and then cleared.

The trail had seemingly gone cold, but two years ago Hemphill was arrested in North Carolina.

Last month, a jury found him guilty.

Now, the boy's mother was able to have her say.

"While you were running, I was picking out a casket for my son. While youyou're your family were safe in North Carolina, I was burying my son and looking for a way to continue living without him. There are no words for the pain that you have caused me and my family and will continue to cause forever," Sanabria said.

Hemphill had been living under an assumed name.

Prosecutors say his life on the run, as well as his DNA on a distinctive blue sweater described by a witness as the one worn by the shooter, prove his guilt.

But during multiple rants, the 37-year-old maintained his innocence.

"It's a 10-year-old case, and you guys needed closure on this case, so you put an innocent man in jail. You put an innocent man in jail, that's what you did," Hemphill said.

"They paid people to take the stand against him, they did all they could do to send him away," said Barbara Hemphill, the defendant's mother.