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A mother whose only child died outside of a Salt Lake City convenience store two years ago in a gang-related shooting battled tears during a sentencing hearing for her son's killer, and said she can finally close the "saddest day" of her life.

"My son wasn't perfect, but I taught him well," said Tupou V. Fakatoufifita on Friday, telling murder defendant Vilisoni Tuino Angilau, "I forgave you long ago."

Prosecutors say Angilau ambushed rival gang member Sione Fakatoufifita as the 19-year-old exited a Salt Lake City convenience store on April 13, 2013.

Angilau's defense attorney, Michael Langford, told a 3rd District Court judge that his 22-year-old client was not in the right state of mind on the day of the shooting, having spent days drinking and smoking methamphetamine.

Langford added that although Angilau pulled the trigger, he did so at the direction of another member of his gang.

The defense attorney also said that Angilau — who has had family and friends caught up in or killed in gang violence — appreciates the gravity of his crime.

Angilau's brother Siale Angilau was fatally shot by a U.S. marshal as the 25-year-old lunged at a witness in federal court on April 21, 2013.

And Ricky Angilau, who is a cousin of Vilisoni Angilau, was 16 when he fired a gun during a fight and killed an onlooker in 2012. He was sentenced as an adult to prison for up to five years.

While in custody, Langford said, Vilisoni Angilau has had time to reflect on his actions. "He's grown up and he's grown humble," Langford said.

Vilisoni Angilau spoke briefly, saying he was remorseful.

"Today isn't to going to change anything," he said. "I know I can't bring him back. I'm so sorry to the family ... I'm really am sorry."

But Assistant Salt Lake County District Attorney Vincent Meister painted a picture of Angilau as callous.

"He admits that he never met [the victim] before," Meister said. "[Angilau] was standing by the phone booth waiting for an opportunity to ambush him just because he's in a rival gang."

Before a courtroom packed with family members of both men, Judge Katie Bernards-Goodman ordered Angilau to serve three to 15 years on the manslaughter count and one to 15 years on the firearm count. She ordered the terms to run concurrently.

"You are a danger to society as far as I am concerned," the judge said, adding that the defendant pay $10,000 for the victim's funeral expenses.

As bailiffs escorted Angilau from the courtroom at the end of the hearing, he told his family, "Bye, I love you."

Angilau's 2-year-old daughter called out in response, "Bye, Daddy."

Prosecutors say that at about 1:15 a.m. on April 13, 2013, Angilau shot Fakatoufifita three times outside a Maverik store at 1680 S. Redwood Road.

After the shooting, Angilau fled and discarded a hooded sweatshirt and a firearm in the nearby Jordan River surplus canal, according to charges. Both items were later recovered by police and the firearm was matched to the bullets that killed Fakatoufifita, according to charges.

Last July, Angilau pleaded guilty in connection with the slaying.

But a month later, he asked to withdraw the pleas, claiming he was under emotional distress and not in the right state of mind when he entered them because of the death of his older brother.

Siale Angilau, one of 17 Tongan Crip Gang members and associates indicted on racketeering charges in 2010, was shot and killed by a federal marshal while on trial in April 2014, when he lunged at a witness who was testifying against him.

"I felt lost and gave up a lot on life after my brother was killed in the federal courthouse," Vilisoni Angilau wrote in a letter to Bernards-Goodman. "I felt as if I was being rushed and pressured into taking this plea bargain."

Angilau abandoned his efforts to withdraw his pleas in March of this year.