FRESNO, California — Damien Murphy was sentenced on Thursday, November 12, to 32 years in state prison for the October 2023 shooting death of William Carney in central Fresno, closing a case that Carney's family had waited more than three years to see end, ABC30 (KFSN) reported on Friday.
More than a dozen of Carney's friends and family members attended the sentencing to witness the end of what they described as a painful case. Family members spoke for more than 20 minutes, and through that time Murphy showed no reaction, the station reported, even as the judge relayed the weight of his crime.
Source: ABC30 / ABC7 News (KFSN)
What the family told the court
Carney's daughter Essence told the court that losing her father felt like all her dreams dying at once, and spoke of the milestones he will never see — her prom day, and walking her down the aisle at her wedding. Carney's mother said her life no longer holds the happiness it once had, describing how the joy that used to come naturally has been replaced by grief.
Adam, one of Carney's childhood friends, spoke directly to Murphy and told him he could not hate him, saying he believed Murphy was suffering more than Carney is — words that, Adam said, brought him a measure of peace of mind.
No remorse, the court heard
Given the chance to address the court and the grieving family, Murphy offered no apology. He said he would not apologize for protecting his family, adding: “I'd do it a million times.” The judge answered him directly, urging him to change his mind, to find remorse for his actions, and not to be disrespectful to the family of the man he killed. Earlier, imposing the sentence, the judge had told him: “I hope every second of your 32 years, you think about William and his family and the damage you've caused.”
The plea that shaped the sentence
In September, Murphy pleaded no contest to voluntary manslaughter. The plea allowed him to avoid a first-degree murder conviction and secured him a lower sentence than a murder conviction could have carried. At Thursday's hearing he was denied any chance at probation, and he was ordered to return to court in December for a restitution hearing; the reports do not give a specific December date or a restitution amount.
Under California law generally, voluntary manslaughter is an unlawful killing committed in the heat of passion or under certain mitigating circumstances, and it carries a far shorter sentencing range than first-degree murder, which can mean decades to life in prison. Murphy's September no-contest plea to voluntary manslaughter is what made a fixed 32-year sentence — rather than a murder trial — the outcome on Thursday.
The man at the centre of the case
William Carney was less than a month shy of his 40th birthday when he was killed in October 2023. He left behind five children. For his family, the sentencing marked the end of more than three years of waiting since the shooting in central Fresno, and their statements in court returned repeatedly to the ordinary life events — proms, weddings, family gatherings — that he will now never attend.
What happens next
Murphy will serve his sentence in California state prison. The remaining court business is the restitution hearing in December, at which the court is expected to address financial restitution connected to the case; neither the exact date nor any amount has been reported yet. For Carney's family, Thursday's hearing closes the criminal case that began with the October 2023 shooting — a wait of more than three years that they described in court as painful to the final day.