By Curtis Krueger, Times staff Writer
Friday, September 10, 2010
LARGO — Brenda Days stood in the courtroom where her son's killers were about to be sentenced on Friday and let them know exactly what they had taken.
"My son didn't get the chance to go to his school prom or graduate from school," she said of Brennon Darvane Days, a Largo High School senior who was 18 when shot and killed.
Dabbing her eyes, she added, "He was the joy of my life, God knows he was. He meant everything to me. These young boys took him away."
Pinellas-Pasco Circuit Judge Philip Federico sentenced Miterrio Banks, 18, and Cory Rocker, 19, to life in prison with no chance of parole. That was the only possible sentence for the two, who were both convicted last month of first-degree murder.
Prosecutors had said the two men lured Days into what they claimed was a drug deal but really was a robbery. Banks was accused as the killer.
Rocker's defense attorney, Bjorn Brunvand, filed a motion to have his client acquitted, but Federico denied it. Brunvand said Rocker did not fire the gun, and that the evidence did not prove he was involved in robbing Days.
Since the murder of her only son in January 2008, Brenda Days has started a teen group called "Brenda's Kids," in an effort to offer positive activities for youths.