Two young men are headed to prison for life for their involvement in a 2006 armed robbery and shooting that left one woman dead and injured three others.

Randall “Boots” Laye, 19, and Aerius “Pete” “P” Deshad Potts, 17, were both convicted of charges related to the death of Paolo Cabanas, 35, on July 19, 2006, in Elizabeth Village mobile home park in Carrollton. Laye was convicted of armed robbery during his trial and Potts was convicted of seven counts of aggravated assault, three counts of first-degree cruelty to children and single counts of armed robbery, possession of a gun or knife during the commission of a crime and possession of a pistol or revolver by a person under the age of 18. Both men were found not guilty on the two counts of murder they faced.

After hearing from the state and attorneys for Laye and Potts Monday morning, Superior Court Judge Dennis Blackmon sentenced Laye to life in prison and Potts to life plus 205 years in prison and 12 months in the Carroll County jail.

Blackmon had harsh words for both.

Before sentencing Laye, Blackmon described the different levels of armed robbery a person could commit.

“A person carries an unloaded weapon to an armed robbery to encourage the victim to comply,” he said. “A person carries a loaded weapon to an armed robbery to make the person comply or be shot.”

Along with Cabanas, then 9-year old Sabrina Montsivais was shot through her legs. Sabrina and her siblings Pablo and Valerie were being watched by Cabanas while their father came home from work. Cabanas’ husband, Jorge Espinosa, was grazed by a bullet as it went through the mobile home and his brother, Pedro Espinosa, was shot in the leg.

Because of the amount of bullets fired and testimony during Laye’s trial that he asked for more bullets after the shooting, Blackmon said he believed Laye also fired a gun.

“Every indication is you fired your weapon,” Blackmon said. “Mr. Laye, you stand here, after apparently going back after this armed robbery to get more bullets, to reload. Who knows why you had to reload unless you thought you were going to have to shoot again. I can think of no case under the statute that would deserve the maximum sentence except this one.”

While addressing Potts, Blackmon called the shootings “cold and callous, vile and heinous.”

“The nightmare visited upon the victims remains,” he said. “The echoes of gunshots fired that night will carry through several generations of that family.”

During his statement to police, Blackmon said Potts showed “callousness” in implying that he would have been able to get away with robbing a Mexican family were it not for the shooting.

Before sentencing, Blackmon heard from victims of the crime and friends and family members of Laye and Potts.

Jorge Espinosa said he is still mourning the loss of his wife of 20 years.

“We were together many years and we loved each other very much,” he said through an interpreter. “I still can’t get it out of my mind; all the plans we had. I can’t believe she’s gone.”

Their plan was to stay in America only a short time, Jorge Espinosa said, and then return to Mexico to live with their son, who is now 19.

“When I returned with his mother’s body it was several days before he would even see me. He said that it was my fault that his mom was coming back like that,” he said.

Also through an interpreter, Pedro Espinosa said he often thinks about what would have happened if he had been killed on July 19.

“There are days that’s all I think about. Then I think about what could have happened; they could have killed me,” he said. “If something worse had happened to me, who would take care of my children?”

Sylvia Montsivais, the mother of Pablo, Sabrina and Valerie, said her children are now scared of knocks on the door and strangers.

“I can’t do anything to help them,” she said.

Laye’s friends and family asked for a light sentence -- 10 years, which is the minimum for armed robbery -- and described him as a loving and responsible young man who got mixed up with the wrong crowd.

Laye’s mother, Sabrina Lowe, said her son acted like the man of the house when his father left.

“He made sure I didn’t have to ask anyone to do anything,” she said.

Lowe said her son also has a 1-year-old son that she wanted him to be able to raise.

“The baby sees him every week, but it’s hard because he can’t communicate through the glass,” she said.

Laye was in the wrong place at the wrong time, Lowe said.

“He’s very sorry about it. Our heart goes out for their loss, but this is a loss for us too,” she said. “Kids make mistakes and they learn from them.”

Both Potts and his mother, Lisa Leonard, spoke before his sentencing.

Leonard said that as a young man, her son witnessed her be a victim of violent crime, and was abandoned by his father. Until recently, they had lived in LaGrange and Leonard said Potts was just getting to know his extended family.

“Aerius is a family person,” she said. “He would get on me because I wasn’t close with my family.”

Leonard said her son deserved a second chance and should not receive a lengthy sentence.

“I understand there’s consequences for your actions but I don’t think the maximum would serve a purpose,” she said. “He’s not a murderer. That’s not the child I raised.”

While addressing the court, Potts said he was sorry about what happened to the Espinosa and Montsivais families.

“I wish I could direct this to the victims, but I don’t want them to feel intimidated. I feel very hurt for what happened,” he said.

When he was arrested, Potts was 15 and was sent to a juvenile detention center until he was 17. During that time, he said, he started working on his GED and high school diploma.

“I can’t say give me a second chance because I never had a chance,” Potts said. “I just want to live and become a productive member of society.”