20 years in prison: 'You're about to pay it,' victim's mother tells killer

Sherry Evans stared down her son's killer in a downtown Seattle courtroom Thursday morning and demanded he look at her.

From a few feet away, an expressionless Curtiss Ware Jr. briefly turned toward her.

"There was no reason for you to take my son's life and to do this to you and your family members," said Evans, of Federal Way. "There is something you need to pay, and you're about to pay it."

Moments later, King County Superior Court Judge Regina Cahan sentenced Ware to 20 years in prison for fatally shooting Evans' son, Melvin Evans, 31, in August 2009 during an argument over drugs.

Sherry Evans was disappointed that Cahan did not give Ware a high-end sentence approaching 25 years.

Ware, 30, shot Melvin Evans during the early-morning hours of Aug. 27, 2009, near Rainier Avenue South and South Byron Street. A witness told officers that he heard Ware curse at Evans and accuse the man of stealing from him. He then saw Ware fire what sounded like five shots as Evans was running away, court charging documents said.

A man who lives near the corner turned over images from a home security camera that showed Ware shooting Evans and driving away in a white pickup. The video was played to the jury, which convicted Ware in October of second-degree murder.

Seattle police were also able to link Ware to the slaying through DNA found on cocaine recovered at the crime scene.

Sherry Evans, who works for the state Department of Social and Health Services, said her son was a good person. But, she conceded: "This thing that always pulled him in was this drug thing."

In court Thursday, she pointed to a collage of photos of her only son. Her three daughters, seated in the gallery, all wore matching T-shirts featuring a spray-painted image of their brother. She said her son "is truly missed by us all."

"You just wanted to be the big bad dude. Look at the big bad dude now in his red suit and no shoes," Evans said to Ware, referring to his jail-issued clothing and plastic sandals. "Money, guns, drugs — somebody has to pay."

Jennifer Sullivan: 206-464-8294 or jensullivan@seattletimes.com