A man was sentenced to eight years in prison for manslaughter Thursday.
Thomas Hughes received an eight year prison sentence after he severely beat 21-year-old Nicolas Keys to death in Bowie, Maryland, in June 2018.
A year later, Keys' mother Ronotta Mincy is still struggling with the violent and unexpected death of her only child.
"I will never accept it. It's not acceptable," Mincy said.
Hughes and Keys got into an argument in the parking lot of the Dollar Tree at Bowie Town Center after Hughes' girlfriend dinged Keys' car with her car door, prosecuters said.
Keys grabbed a bat, police said. But Hughes threw it across the parking lot and began punching Keys, according to testimony.
"The injuries that he received from the blows were exacerbated when his head hit the pavement and it killed him," said Prince George's County State's Attorney Aisha Braveboy.
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Keys' parents removed him life support three days after the fight. He died two months before his 22nd birthday, his mother said.
Mincy said she's not satisfied with the sentencing in this case.
"I don't think there's a sentence long enough when you lose a loved one. I feel like he should have gotten more," she said.
Hughes was on probation for his part in an armed robbery that led to a gunman killing someone when this fight happened. He could receive an additional 12 years in prison for violating his probabation, Braveboy said.
"He's been in and out of jail," Mincy said. "He's living his life. My son is gone forever. There's no justice in that."
