Berkeley man gets death penalty in 2013 Oakland murders of 8-year-old, 22-year-old

OAKLAND, Calif. (KGO) -- A double-murder case out of Oakland ended Wednesday when a judge sentenced the convicted gunman to death. One of the shooting victims, Alaysha Carradine, was just 8 years old.

RELATED: Jury convicts Darnell Williams of murdering 8-year-old girl, 22-year-old man

Relatives of both victims were in court on this very emotional day to hear the sentencing of 25-year-old Darnell Williams Jr. And although they're grateful he's off the streets now, not every relative was happy that he was given the death penalty.

"He took away a child," said Alaysha's cousin, Shaquilla Jackson.

Relatives of Alaysha say the pain is just as deep now as it was in the summer of 2013 when the then 8-year-old girl was gunned down during a sleepover at a friend's home.

"Her brother, he has to grow up, and the only thing he'll have is just the remembrance of his sister," Jackson said.

Back in May, a jury convicted Williams of shooting into an Oakland home in hopes of murdering the family of a man he blamed for murdering a friend.

The judge on Wednesday said Williams specifically intended to kill the man's children, but killed Alaysha instead. Williams was also convicted of killing 22-year-old Anthony Medearis, whom he believed to be a snitch.

"It was senseless, it was senseless," said Jackie Winters, Medearis' aunt.

RELATED: New evidence found in 8-year-old Oakland girl's 2013 murder

Before sentencing, Judge Jeffrey Horner said Williams' crimes were "an orgy of revenge, slaughter and murder." Relatives of the victims agree; but surprisingly, Winters and Jackson would have preferred he didn't get the death penalty.

"Cause on death row you just sit, it's like you're comfortable," Winters said. "With life you have to worry, you have to look behind your back, you have to worry about everything."

Jackson added, "No, I think he should do life. Life without parole."

With executions in California currently in limbo because of recent court rulings and an outright ban on capital punishment going before voters in November, it's anybody's guess when a death sentence could be carried out on Williams. But, prosecutors say they fully expect to see him in the death chamber one day.