For the first time since his son was killed three years ago, the pain Santonio Carter wakes up with every day came with relief.
The man who started the gun fight that killed 6-year-old King Carter was sentenced to 40 years in prison Monday -- but justice does not remove the sting of the boy's death.
"If they would've given him 100 years, 100,000 years, if they'd have just took his life in the courtroom, if they would've let him go free, fact is my son is gone, our son is gone and he ain't coming back," Santonio Carter said from his Pembroke Pines home.
Miami-Dade police say 21-year-old Irwen Pressley and two other young men targeted a rival at the Blue Lake Village Apartments in February 2016. Authorities say Pressley fired at the other man, who fled and fired back. Other people also began to shoot.
A stray bullet hit King Carter, who had been walking to a nearby store.
The two other men involved received lesser sentences.
The killing sparked an uproar in the north Miami-Dade community, prompting marches and rallies. Santonio Carter became an activist against youth violence.
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"Even when I go to the football park with a team, and I'm strapping on shoulder pads of 9-year-olds and helping tie cleats," he said. "My son would've been this height, this age, on this team, with this jersey on, everything is bittersweet."
Now the Carters are starting a movement called "Cool Hope" to raise money for troubled youth and to spread positivity.
There's also a new blessing headed their way: Monica Carter is pregnant.
"I got a baby girl on the way, Queen Carter, keeping the royalty line going after my son King Carter," Santonio said.
The baby is due on July 27, which also happens to be King's birthday.
He would have been 10 years old this year.
