COLUMBIA, S.C. _ The quiet sound of Howard Boone Jr.'s ventilator was the loudest noise in the courtroom as a judge contemplated a prison sentence for the gunman responsible for Boone's artificial breathing machine and motorized wheelchair.
Boone wanted people to consider his words more than his ventilator when he spoke to the court.
"I pray that the world and society get better in the thought behind carrying a gun and make changes," Boone said.
The gunman in the Five Points triple shooting that paralyzed Boone and wounded two others pleaded guilty.
Arthur Jones of Hopkins admitted in a Richland County courtroom that he opened fire on the crowded streets of the popular nightlife district only hours after the annual St. Pat's in Five Points festival.
Judge Casey Manning sentenced Jones, 24, to 40 years in prison.
The shooting began as a gang dispute, prosecutor Vance Eaton told the court. But when the hearing was over, Boone and his family wanted the ordeal to end with a call for people to stop turning to guns to resolve issues in the streets.
"When you pull that trigger that bullet don't turn around," Boone's father, Howard Boone Sr. told the court.
A BULLET WITH NOBODY'S NAME
In March 2018, revelers in Five Points, many still celebrating after the St. Patrick's Day festival, were sent into chaos as bullets flew near the intersection of Greene and Harden streets close to 2 a.m. When the shooting was over, three men were lying near the intersection with bullet wounds.
After studying video footage, the Columbia Police Department quickly identified Jones as the primary shooter and arrested him in less than two hours.
Boone Jr. was in South Carolina for a meeting of his fraternity, Omega Psi Phi, and came to Five Points to go out for the night.
Jones was affiliated with a gang and saw a rival gang member that night in Five Points, Eaton told the court. Video shown in court showed Jones recognize the rival and his expression change before he pulled out the .38 caliber gun and began shooting.
"The bullet went out with nobody's name on it," said Eaton of the Fifth Circuit Solicitor's Office.
Then a 23-year-old student at St. Augustine University in Raleigh, N.C., Boone Jr. was shot in the neck, the bullet striking his spinal cord. Though he survived, he was paralyzed from the neck down.
Another victim, Anfernee Kirkland, an airman stationed at Shaw Air Force Base, was shot. A bullet also struck Kidron Deal, a 20-year-old former high school football and baseball player, in the face, police said. The victims survived after being hospitalized.
The shooting was a crime against more than the victims, Eaton said.
It was a crime "against this whole community," he told the court. Visitors and Columbia residents "have the right to go to Five Points and enjoy themselves without finding themselves suddenly in the crossfire of gang combat."
Because of the indiscriminate firing, Eaton asked Manning to render the maximum sentence. He asked for the harsh punishment not only because of the severity of the injuries to Boone and the others but also because Boone's dreams died in the shooting.
Boone had served in the Army, Eaton said, and was in St. Augustine's ROTC program to become an officer.
"He was doing everything right," Eaton told the court. "He probably would be leading a platoon of soldiers. ... He signed up knowing he might go to combat. Of course, he did not expect that right here in Columbia, South Carolina."
EVERY DREAM, EVERY GOAL
Boone Jr. was working toward becoming an Army officer not just for himself but for his country and family, he told the court.
"I'd always said that I would rather die overseas for my country and my family rather than die on the streets as a statistic as an African American," Boone Jr. said
He built himself towards his goals so his nephews and, especially, his little brother would have someone to look up to.
"It got to be a point in my life where I wasn't doing it for me, I was doing it for everyone around me," Boone Jr. said.
Though they find inspiration in the man who was described as the rock of their family, relatives said seeing his life fundamentally altered is a struggle that has yet to end.
"Every dream and every goal he accomplished ... was taken from him. That's a pain that can't go away," Shakeisha Washington, Boone's partner, said before she sat beside him and rested her head on his shoulder for the remainder of the hearing.
Speaking through tears, Boone's father recalled the trauma he's only beginning to overcome since the shooting.
"I couldn't read the newspaper, look at no video. I couldn't imagine my son laying in the streets like that," he said. "Every time I heard an ambulance I had to close my ears because the only thing I could envision was my son going to that hospital."
After the shooting, Boone Jr. is finding new strengths for his family to believe in, his girlfriend and other family members told the court.
"He continues every day (and) he pushes people past where they could go," Washington said. "He encourages people."
One of the ways Boone Jr. encourages people is through Legacy 318, an organization he founded after the shooting with a mission to bring awareness about gun violence.
Boone is praying his message is heard by his shooter.
"I pray that Mr. Jones finds himself and realizes that this didn't just affect my family and the other victims' families but this affects his life and his kids and his family."
'WHAT CAN A PARENT SAY'
Jones faced up to 100 years in prison on three attempted murder charges and two gun offenses.
Shackled at the waist, wrist and feet, Jones answered Judge Manning's questions succinctly
"Do you want to give up your Constitutional rights?" and "Understanding you could go to jail for 100 years, would you like to plead guilty," Manning asked.
"Yes, sir," Jones said.
Rhodes Bailey of the Richland County Public Defenders Office represented Jones and asked Manning for a sentence of 15 to 18 years.
Jones' family only asked for forgiveness from Boone's family.
Looking to Boone's family, Arthur Jones Sr., Jones' father, said "we stand by you in prayer and hurt," before he broke into tears.
"What can a parent say when you raise a child one way and you find yourself here," Jones Sr. said. "We can't understand it. We don't know why the decision was made to do what was done."
Jones worked as a cook to help raise his children, his father said.
The pastor from the church Jones attended growing up also spoke to Boone's family.
"Whatever happens in court, it pales in comparison to the pain we have," Pastor Allen Williams said, gesturing to Boone and his relatives.
Jones has a disabled family member who has to use a wheelchair, and Jones has seen first hand the difficulty such a handicap causes, according to Bailey. Jones now realizes he caused that same pain for another family.
He's taken responsibility for the tragedy he caused and is remorseful, Bailey said.
Before pleading guilty, Jones confided to his lawyer that, " 'This is something I can't forgive myself for,' " Bailey told the court.
After handing down the four-decade sentence, Manning turned to the families of Boone and Bailey.
"This is a tragedy for everyone involved," the judge said. "My heart grieves for both families. There's no way we can go back and change this situation. But as the judge responsible for sentencing him today, I can tell both sides equally and fairly ... that this sentence reflects, like a mirror, the conscious of this community."
