Dawan Ingram, 21, won't be eligible for parole for 42 and a half years. Watch video
NEWARK -- A man convicted of a fatal shooting outside a city grocery store continued to assert his innocence Friday as a judge sentenced him to 50 years in state prison.
A jury in June found Dawan Ingram guilty of murdering Najee Montague in September 2013 while Ingram was on probation for another killing. Prosecutors alleged a parole bracelet strapped around Ingram's ankle sent out alerts when Ingram, then 18, left his Newark home and shot Montague, 21, seven times.
Superior Court Judge Siobhan Teare called the crime "callous" and "depraved" before she sentenced Ingram to 50 years for homicide and 10 years for related weapons charges, to be served concurrently with the homicide sentence. He will be eligible for parole in just over 42 and a half years.
The sentencing followed an hour of emotional statements from Ingram's and Montague's relatives and friends, several of whom broke down while speaking.
Ingram, who sat silently for most of the proceedings, also addressed the court to deny his involvement with the shooting.
"I've got to live the rest of my life knowing that I'm being accused of murdering him [Montague], when the true murderer, the actual murderer, is still possibly out on the streets, waiting to kill again," he said.
Public defender Joan Richardson asked the judge to throw out the jury's verdict entirely and argued the state had fallen "woefully short" in proving its case. She then read an extensive list of ways in which Ingram had rehabilitated, including by attending anger management classes.
Essex County Assistant Prosecutor Roger Imhof recommended Ingram, of Newark, get a life sentence. Ingram was less than two months into his parole for a previous aggravated manslaughter sentence when he shot Montague, also of Newark, Imhof said.
Imhof also read a statement from the trial, in which an eyewitness to the shooting described what Ingram did afterward: "He walked away like it was nothing."
The judge said she struggled to reconcile Ingram's respectfulness and politeness throughout his legal process with the allegations against him. Still, she said, "I do think the evidence, unfortunately, was substantial in this case."
The Essex County Prosecutor's Office previously said the shooting happened around 7:35 p.m. on Sept. 21, 2013, in front of a grocery store at 1006 South Orange Ave., where Montague was talking to friends.
Ingram's lawyer argued at trial that Ingram had been home at the time of the shooting and presented relatives who said they saw him at home, authorities said.
They said prosecutors entered testimony from Ingram's parole officer, who said records from his electronic bracelet showed he was not actually at home.
"He came up from behind," Imhof said of the murder in a statement. "He didn't even utter a word. The victim didn't even see it coming.''
Ingram was released on July 13, 2013, from the New Jersey Training School, commonly referred to as Jamesburg, after he served time for fatally shooting Robert Hughes in 2009 in Newark, Imhof said.
As a juvenile, Ingram joined a gang by age 13 and was found guilty of weapons and other offenses four times, Imhof said.
Marisa Iati may be reached at miati@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @Marisa_Iati. Find NJ.com on Facebook.