The "cold-hearted" cousin of a Bermudian shot dead in the States has been jailed for at least 20 years for the murder by a judge who said he showed no remorse.

Cornell R. (Henny) Shawell was given the maximum term of 20 to 40 years in state prison for the third-degree murder of 26-year-old Garrow Lightbourn Jr., known as Trevor.

The sentence was passed yesterday by Judge Thomas C. Branca at Montgomery County Court in Pennsylvania after he heard emotional testimony from Mr. Lightbourn's 51-year-old father, a Belco worker, who sobbed uncontrollably throughout the hearing.

Garrow Lightbourn Sr., also known as Trevor, of Spanish Crescent, Smith's, said he was shocked when he learned that a relative fatally shot his son in the chest with a .38-caliber revolver.

He said Trevor Jr., who was a former student of Elliot Primary, Whitney Institute and CedarBridge Academy, moved from Bermuda to Pottstown, near Philadelphia, in 2007 to be with relatives, was a "very hardworking boy" and "wonderful" father of two toddlers.

"There's not a day that goes by I don't think of my son. My life has been turned upside down. Whatever they went through as cousins, it didn't warrant for Cornell to shoot Trevor," the elder Lightbourn wept to the judge, asking that Shawell, 30, be jailed for a long time.

The victim's sister, Nichelle Lightbourn, 32, also asked for the maximum possible sentence, telling the judge that her brother's children have only photos by which to remember their father.

"My brother was friendly, always joking, smiling a lot," she said. "I miss my brother. Cornell didn't have any right to decide who should live or die. I don't think there's anything that warrants this situation." Sentencing Shawell, the judge referred to a pre-sentence interview in which the killer appeared to make excuses for his conduct and place blame on his cousin.

"I am convinced this defendant poses a danger to the public," said the judge. "He is, in my view, somebody who is cold-hearted. It is clear to me that this defendant is not remorseful." Before he was sentenced, Shawell, who shot his cousin dead during a 10 p.m. argument in the Bright Hope community on January 26 last year, said he didn't deserve the maximum prison term.

"I loved Trevor," he said. "I'm not a violent person. I know what I did was wrong." He showed no emotion as he learned his fate but many of his relatives, who earlier pleaded for leniency from the judge, reacted with tears and gasps of: "Oh, my God!" as they heard the sentence imposed.

Shawell, who fled the murder scene, pleaded guilty to third-degree murder, possessing an instrument of crime and flight to avoid apprehension in connection with the killing, which authorities alleged was the culmination of a longstanding feud between the men about money.

A charge of first-degree murder, an intentional killing punishable by life imprisonment, was dismissed in exchange for the guilty plea.

Third-degree murder is a killing committed with malice. Shawell admitted he acted with a conscious disregard that his actions could cause death or serious bodily injury.

Assistant District Attorney Jesse King told the court: "He shot an unarmed man in the heart, killing him within moments. There's no hiding from that.

"There is no justification in this case. This is a dangerous man who took a simple argument and raised it to the ultimate level." Arguing for a sentence of 26 to 52 years in prison for Shawell, Mr. King claimed the defendant didn't learn a lesson from previous scrapes with the law, including a weapons charge, and could not be rehabilitated.

Defence lawyer Gabriel Levin argued for leniency, claiming his client had been threatened by Lightbourn on numerous occasions leading up to the shooting.

He implied Shawell suffered from anxiety and depression, which might have predisposed him to reacting the way he did on the night of the shooting.

"They were as close as brothers," he said of the cousins. "But there came a time when differences arose, arguments, and they separated." He added that Shawell "feels horrible about this incident". "It's just a horribly, horribly sad case. No one wins. A family doesn't lose one member, they lose two."