Man sentenced to 25 years for killing girlfriend’s estranged husband

A Bradenton man was sentenced Thursday to 25 years in prison for killing his then-girlfriend's estranged husband.

Jared Lakes, 29, was convicted in late June of manslaughter with a firearm in the July 2014 fatal shooting of Shawn McCoy, 28, in front of Lakes’ residence in the 600 block of 25th Avenue West.

“Based upon the evidence, based upon what I’ve heard, everyone loses in this case. No one wins,” Manatee Circuit Judge Deno Economou said. “It is truly tragic and it is truly sad, but there are consequences.”

The sentencing came after the court heard emotional testimony from the victim’s family and Lakes’ mother and two family friends.

Lakes also spoke, first apologizing to McCoy’s family for their loss. He shared details of his childhood, including how he was raised by a single mother after his parents split when he was very young. At about 18, Lakes tried to make up for lost time with his father.

“Over these years I got to know him and, unfortunately, I found out what type of man not to be,” Lakes said. “My point in telling you all this, sir, is to say that I am not a dangerous, violent or angry person. That is not how I was raised.”

Lakes said he would give anything in the world to take back what happened that day in July.

“If I could trade places with Shawn, I would,” he said.

McCoy’s mother, Donna McCoy, and McCoy’s brother, Terry McCoy Jr., spoke at the sentencing.

Looking straight at Lakes, Donna said she hopes he could see that he was a puppet in the game of life of Ashley Brining, her son’s estranged wife. Brining in June took the stand for the defense in recalling the moments leading up to McCoy’s death.

She said her son made a mistake on Dec. 26 when he got into an argument with Brining and it just got out of hand.

“But that night at the house, there’s no reason for you to kill my baby boy. None whatsoever,” she said with agony in her voice. “It was a fistfight, Jared. We all gotta live with this pain for a long, long time.”

McCoy’s children ask when can they see their father again, Donna said. Those kids, she added, are never going to have him to celebrate birthdays, Christmas, graduations, weddings.

Lakes’ mother, Linda Copher, said her son did feel remorse.

“I lived with him these whole two years. There were days that he wouldn’t leave his room,” Lakes' mother says. “There were days that I would hear him cry. Jared is a child of God. He is in his Bible. He’s always been in his Bible. He’s always been a man of God.”

From the stand, McCoy’s brother told Lakes he wished he was there the day McCoy died.

“It takes a real man to walk away. You’re not a man. You’re a coward,” McCoy told Lakes. “You don’t take somebody’s life over a fistfight. I’ll never forgive you. Unlike my mother, I could never forgive you.”

After the sentencing, Lakes’ mother declined to comment. Defense attorney Peter Lombardo said he plans on appealing.

This story was originally published August 18, 2016 at 5:22 PM with the headline "Man sentenced to 25 years for killing girlfriend’s estranged husband."