The 21-year-old gunman who along with two others rob and kill a St. Paul man in an alley as he walked home from work nearly two years ago was sentenced to a 30 year prison sentence Monday.

Judge Nicole Starr sentenced Arteze Owen Kinerd to 363 months at the St. Cloud correctional facility for fatally shooting 22-year-old Alex Becker . That sentence includes 518 days of credit for time Kinerd served in custody, and he could spend the last third of the sentence on supervised release.

Kinerd pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in February. He also entered a guilty plea to kidnapping for a separate incident that happened weeks before Becker’s death. Although Becker’s mother Tara hopes to encourage people with her late son’s kindness, she said Monday’s sentencing was hard to process.

“I had to leave the court … I couldn’t stand listening to her telling Kinerd all of the things he can look forward to when he gets out of prison,” Tara Becker said. “With all trials and sentencing over it closes one part of this for our family. Unfortunately nothing will help heal our pain and the sorrow we have. Alex was a very special person and I am so grateful I was able to be his mother.”

Alex Becker was walking home on Dec. 27, 2022 from work at Goodin Company, a wholesale distributor for plumbing parts and piping systems where he worked with his father. Security camera footage showed that when Becker walked into an alley. Kinerd and two others — Detwan Cortell Allen and another man who was later acquitted — followed. Gunshots rang moments later, and neighbors spotted two people walking away from the scene before leaving in a black car.

Kinerd told the courts that he planned to rob Becker that night after driving past him in a car with the other two. Kinerd said they did not know Becker before the incident, and that he grabbed at one of the men’s guns during the robbery attempt.

“What happened between that person and Alex Becker?” Defense Attorney Daniel Gonnerman asked Kinerd.

“Alex snatched his gun,”Kinerd said.

“And what did you do in response to that?”

“Shot him.”

“OK. How many times did you shoot him”

“Eight times.”

St. Paul officers found Becker in that alley at minutes later with six bullet wounds. He died yards from his home where his mother was awake, waiting for him.

Judge Paul Yang sentenced Allen to 30 years for his role in Becker’s death. Judge JaPaul Harris acquitted another man last December after his defense argued that he didn’t know the other two planned to rob and kill Becker.