The benches of King County Courthouse Room W-928 were full on April 13 as over 25 people, family and friends of slain 23-year-old Sweetheart Failautusi, came to watch her killer get sentenced for the 2011 White Center shooting death.

Each person wore a black t-shirt emblazoned with the image of Sweetheart as a child and a young woman – a visual testament to the solidarity and loss of the White Center woman’s family and Pacific Islander community.

Her killer, 25-year-old Anthony Haroldlee Smith, was sentenced to 15 years and a little over three months in prison after pleading guilty to a second degree murder charge in February. Smith admitted to shooting Failautusi after an altercation occurred on the evening of August 16 in downtown White Center. The victim’s group of friends had gotten into a fist fight with Smith’s group, and a short while later he returned with a pistol and shot her.

Members of Sweetheart’s family were given the chance to address Smith directly at his sentencing.

Her sister, Mona Failautusi, told the story of losing both of their parents prematurely, their mother in 1998 and their father on August 17, 2010.

One year later, on “August 16, 2011, I wake up to 50 missed calls and 50 unread messages,” Mona said to Smith. “The first one I open says, ‘Where’s Sweetie? What happened to Sweetheart?’ I go into the living room and I join my older brother and he tells me, ‘Sweetheart’s gone.’ I tell him, ‘She’s not, she can’t be.’

“Four months prior to that, in April, I stopped talking to Sweetie … and now I can’t tell her how much I love her.

“I know you don’t know me and you don’t know my family, but we are no strangers to struggle, pain or death. Like my sister said, ‘We will get through this,’ but what I don’t understand is if you had that second chance to walk away, why did you come back? When my sister was man enough to put her fists up and fight you, why were you so cowardly to hide behind a trigger? That’s what I don’t understand.”

Sweetheart’s cousin Tiare Faletogo, who said the two were close like sisters, also addressed the court and Smith.

“I did not cry that night (of her murder) because I couldn’t; I was numb,” she said. “It was August but it felt like winter.

“I just want you to know that whatever made you that mad for you to come back, I hope it was worth taking somebody we love very much … we are a very tight family, we do not call each other cousins, we call each other brothers and sisters. She was my protector, I knew I was safe because I knew she was always out there somewhere.

“It’s been eight months and I finally feel like I’m moving on,” she said, fighting through tears, “and now we have to come here and I feel like we are burying her all over again.

“I hate that I have to wear her face on a shirt, I hate that I can’t grab her. That night you had a chance to walk away. You left and you came back, you had a chance to just leave things alone and I just can’t understand that.”

Smith’s counsel said he had been forthcoming from the get-go in admitting to the murder and the case was never going to trial. His lawyer asked that the judge accept the agreed upon sentence between prosecution and defense (the sentence given) due to Smith’s troubled childhood and lack of a violent criminal history.

His counsel read a letter written by Smith to Sweetheart’s family and friends, that read in part: “I want all of you to know I take full responsibility for what happened that night … and there is nothing I can say or do to make amends for the terrible choice I made to take the life of your loved one.”

When asked by King County Judge Mary Yu if he wished to add anything to the written statement, Smith slowly raised his head and muttered at a low volume, “I’m sorry, I’m truly sorry. If I could take that night back I would. I’m sorry.”

Judge Yu addressed Smith directly before handing down the sentence.

“It really is unfortunate what happened in your childhood and yet, Mr. Smith, it doesn’t (forgive) the choice that you made that night. There was the chance to walk away and you didn’t.

“At the same time, you need to understand your life is not over … there is going to come a time when you will walk out of prison, and there has to be a time when you see yourself as being able to make a positive contribution to society to make this right. You have a lot to overcome and I hope you are going to take the time while you are in prison to invest in yourself.

“I am not here today as a social worker or a counselor, I am hear to hold you accountable and punish you for acts that occurred. I cannot restore life …”

And with that Judge Yu handed down the sentence of 15 years and just under four months in prison. Smith will have three years of probation after that and restitution costs will be determined at a later date.

Updated to include Sweetheart's cousin's name.