Minnie Ratliff said she relived the nightmare of her son’s death when his killer, Travarus Cortiez Wilson, 25, was sentenced to 25 years in prison after pleading guilty to voluntary manslaughter Thursday.

Ratliff said she was shocked by the plea agreement since she expected a murder conviction followed by a life sentence.

“I’m very upset,” she said. “I’m heartbroken.”

According to Ratliff, the February trial was supposed to bring closure in her son’s death, but instead she said the shooting of Ramondo Travez Johnson, 25, is still fresh in her mind.

“I’m hurting now just talking about it,” she said. “The past year has been very hard for me and my family. It’s been like a nightmare with very little sleep.”

On Jan. 30, 2008, Wilson fired gunshots during a party at the Campus Quad Apartments complex on Columbia Drive, killing Johnson and wounding Rahmere Cowling, 21, of Hampton, Carrollton police Capt. Chris Dobbs said.

Dobbs said between 30 and 50 people were at the party when the victims and suspect began arguing inside the apartment and continued to fight as they stepped outside before Wilson started firing a .40-caliber Glock handgun, striking Johnson and Cowling.

Cowling, according to police, was a friend of Wilson’s prior to the shooting.

When officers arrived they found both victims lying in the parking lot after the shooting, and police found two semi-automatic handguns in the parking lot and in Wilson’s vehicle, according to Dobbs.

Johnson was pronounced dead at Tanner Medical Center in Carrollton, and Cowling was flown to Atlanta Medical Center in critical condition following the shooting.

Wilson’s trial was originally scheduled for November but was changed to Feb. 8, according to Assistant District Attorney Vince Faucette.

“We’ve had a lot of time to talk about our recommendations,” Faucette said. “I think the agreement was consistent with what we’ve done with other murder cases in the past.”

Faucette said the decision to offer the plea deal was difficult, but it ensured Wilson would get substantial prison time.

“The risk is that we wouldn’t get a murder charge in court. You have to weigh the risk on both sides,” he said. “And a life sentence is parolable after 30 years.”

There were other factors that affected the decision for a plea agreement, according to Faucette, including difficulties in locating key witnesses and the fact Johnson was armed during the shooting and was wearing a bulletproof vest.

Wilson will serve between 65 percent to 90 percent of the 25-year sentence, depending on the parole board’s decision. So Ratliff said she and her family are writing letters that will go before the board in an attempt to persuade the members to keep Wilson in prison for 90 percent of his sentence.

“We do have some letters together already, but it still hurts me to know he’ll be out in 25 years,” Ratliff said. “He’s in his early 20s and he’ll still be young when he gets out. I’m afraid for the people he’ll be around and for others once he gets out.”

Though Ratliff was disappointed by the sentence she said she still has hope for the future.

“I hope young people will be more aware they need to be careful,” she said. “Now more than ever parents need to be aware of what type of people are out there.”

Ratliff said her main concern is for Johnson’s 6-year-old son who was close with Johnson before his death.

“He was so in love with his daddy,” she said. “He still wakes up crying out for his dad. I just feel like he (Wilson) has gotten away with murder.”