Fort Wayne mother reacts before the sentencing of Senaca James, who killed her daughter

FORT WAYNE, Ind. (Fort Wayne’s NBC) - A Fort Wayne man convicted of killing 18-year-old Dominique Taylor in 2019 as a teenager will be sentenced Friday.

James faces up to 85 years in prison with his sentencing coming at 1:30 p.m.

James was 16 when he shot and killed Brandy Parrish’s daughter, Dominique Taylor. It happened in the parking lot of the Villa Capri Apartments.

“A part of me has died. This has affected so many people,” Parrish said. “She no longer has a life. She no longer gets to make decisions, choose what to eat or what she wants to do, or make plans. They’re forever gone.”

Parrish says no sentence for James will ever equal justice for her daughter.

“It’s accountability. You cannot say I’m sorry. Nothing he could ever do or say can ever bring my daughter back,” Parrish said .

She described her daughter as caring, understanding, and vibrant, loved by the 400 people who showed up at her funeral and by many more.

“I cry every day for my daughter. I battle depression every day with the loss of my daughter. I visit my daughter’s grave every single day. I will never get over the loss of my daughter.” Parrish said.

James’ sentencing is scheduled for Friday at the Allen County Courthouse. His Co-defendant, Dawann Martin, who was 15 at the time of the shooting, faces the same counts, murder and using a gun to do it.

His trial is scheduled to begin on February first.

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