DAYTON — A Dayton man shot and killed his pregnant girlfriend and a teenage boy. On Friday, he learned how much time he will spend in prison.
News Center 7 was in court and heard from the family of one of the victims. The now-convicted murderer had his say, too.
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His trial was part bench and part jury trial, so he was convicted by a judge and jury. But, Nicole Cunigan, Jr., still says he didn’t kill.
During his trial, prosecutors painted Cunigan as a widely jealous and obsessive man who stalked his ex-girlfriend, Precious Taste. She was the mother of his children.
Carl Thomas, Taste’s brother, said, “All the tough talk that you did, you weren’t good enough to walk away. After she asked you to leave her alone.” He continued by saying, “Should have just walked away. There are more fish in the sea. You ended your life, hers. You didn’t care about your kids.”
Cunigan shot and killed Taste and her friend, 16-year-old Deante Johnson. She was four months pregnant with Cunigan’s child when she was murdered.
“You took a beautiful soul,” Thomas said.
Cunigan was convicted on every count against him at his trial earlier this month. And the killing spree was caught on video.
However, before he learned his punishment, he told the judge, “God don’t put nobody through nothing they can’t handle. I’m innocent,”
The judge told Cunigan his punishment is life in prison, with his first shot at parole in 39 years.
Cunigan has a little more than a year of jail time credit. So, the first shot he’ll get at parole won’t be until 2063.
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