An East Hartford man has been sentenced to four-and-a-half years in prison in connection with the death of a UConn student killed during Spring Weekend last year.
Prosecutors had requested that Edi Rapo, of East Hartford, be sentenced to five-and-a-half years in prison for the death of Jafar Karzoun.
Rapo, who was not a UConn student, punched Karzoun, who fell and suffered a fatal head injury, officials said.
Karzoun's family and friends stood in the crowded courtroom on Friday morning. When photos of Karzoun as a baby and as a child were shown, they cried.
"I look at his picture every day and ask why," his mother said.
Before Rapo was sentenced, Karzoun's father asked the judge for the maximum punishment.
"We still did not know why he killed my son. This criminal did not give Jafar a chance to defend himself," Karzoun's father said. "He took from us the best thing we ever had."
Rapo pleaded no contest to manslaughter charges in July.
