Man, 18, gets life for boy's slaying

An 18-year-old from Roxbury, who was convicted of shooting a 15-year-old in the head and back as he lay on the ground in 2003, was sentenced yesterday to life in prison without parole, Suffolk County prosecutors said.

Suffolk Superior Court Judge Stephen Neel handed down the sentence to Kentel M. Weaver after the murder victim's uncle, a Dorchester minister, made a plea for Boston youths to settle differences without violence.

Weaver was convicted last week of killing Germaine Rucker on Wendover Street on Aug. 10, 2003. Weaver, who was 16 at the time, also was convicted of unlawful gun possession.

In a victim-impact statement made at the sentencing hearing, the Rev. William E. Dickerson II of Dorchester's Greater Love Tabernacle Church recalled the short life of his adoptive nephew. Wearing a button featuring a picture of the victim's smiling face, he also urged young people to settle differences ''in a Godly, religious manner," according to a press release issued by Suffolk District Attorney Daniel F. Conley's office.

''Violence hurts us all," said Dickerson, the youngest brother of Germaine Rucker's adoptive father. ''Homicide hurts us all."

Speaking for the family, Dickerson asked Weaver to turn his life over to God. He remembered his nephew, an aspiring carpenter, as ''a vibrant young boy."

At the trial, prosecutors presented evidence that Weaver was with a group of youths who knocked Rucker from his bicycle, beat him, and stole his backpack.

Witnesses said Rucker was showing off jewelry to other teenagers at Wendover and Dudley streets at about 8:45 p.m. when he was attacked by other teenagers.

Standing 6 feet 3 inches and weighing about 200 pounds, Rucker had a reputation for toughness, relatives said. But the other teens knocked him down and beat him during the scuffle, and prosecutors said Weaver then pulled out a gun and fatally shot Rucker.

Conley said yesterday that prosecutors were satisfied justice had been done in the case, but ''took no joy" from the sentence.

''One young man lies dead, and another will spend the rest of his life in prison," Conley said.