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As a 16-year-old, Martin was sentenced as an adult Monday by a Â鶹´«Ã½¹ÙÍø judge to 25 years in prison for the first-degree murder of Isaac Ikier Cunningham.

Cunningham, 15, was struck twice by the shots fired by Martin, who in April pleaded guilty to what prosecutors described as a brutal, premeditated murder on the afternoon of June 5, 2024.

In a text three months earlier, Martin discussed his plans to shoot Cunningham “coming outta school� as he “walked across da street at dismissal,� according to court papers filed by Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney Andrew Stephens.

Witnesses described seeing Martin chase Cunningham and gun him down near Ferncliff Avenue and Routt Road — close enough to William Fleming to raise concerns about school security.

“This can’t happen again,â€� Cunningham’s mother, Kierston Turner Cole, testified in Â鶹´«Ã½¹ÙÍø Circuit Court. “I just don’t want to see this happen to anyone else.â€�

In asking for an active sentence of 30 years, Stephens implored Judge Chris Clemens to “consider the 1,900 other students� who were at Fleming at the time of the 1 p.m. shooting.

“We’re not safe with this young man at liberty,� he said.

Since summer 2022, Â鶹´«Ã½¹ÙÍø City Public Schools have implemented more than 25 additional safety measures, which include increasing the number of teachers, staff, counselors and school resource officers, a spokeswoman for the system said Monday.

Those and other measures, including launching an anonymous safety tip line and providing enhanced physical and mental health services, contributed to a nearly 8% decrease in the number of disciplinary incidents in the 2024-2025 school year, Claire Mitzel wrote in an email.

As for a fight between Martin and Cunningham in a William Fleming bathroom and hallway, Mitzel said she could not provide specific information about disciplinary actions in individual cases.

Turner Cole said her son was the victim of bullying. A cellphone video of the fight, taken by another student and played in court Monday, shows Cunningham repeatedly punching Martin and knocking him to the floor.

But the only real injuries Martin suffered were to his pride, Stephens said, arguing that the defendant spent nearly three months planning his retribution against Cunningham.

The prosecutor also said that within an hour of the shooting, Martin was trying online to trade his murder weapon for another pistol. When they searched his bedroom, police found the gun, a second firearm, hundreds of rounds of ammunition and multiple magazines for the Glock weapons.

Asked how he got the guns, Martin replied: “In the usual way.� Authorities say he either stole them or received them illegally as gifts.

Since his arrest, Martin has been charged with multiple assaults and other offenses at a juvenile detention center where he is being held. But under questioning from Stephens, he denied that he was a dangerous person.

Watching his testimony was a crowd of more than 40 friends and family members of Cunningham, some of them wearing T-shirts emblazoned with the words “Isaac The Great.�

Turner Cole described her son as “the rock of the family.�

“He was always there,� she testified. “There wasn’t anything that you could ask Isaac to do that wasn’t too big.�

Assistant Public Defender Tom Love urged Clemens to show mercy on his client, pointing to Martin’s troubled upbringing that included childhood trauma, substance abuse and mental health problems.

One of the most influential figures in his life was his stepfather, Travis Martin, a mentally troubled man who encouraged his son at an early age to purchase the marijuana that they both smoked.

On June 8, 2024 — just three days after his stepson was charged with Cunningham’s death — Travis Martin was fatally shot by Â鶹´«Ã½¹ÙÍø police officers in what Commonwealth’s Attorney Donald Caldwell later ruled was a justified use of deadly force.

Martin threatened to kill police officers earlier in the day, according to Caldwell’s review. He was later spotted on Hershberger Road and fled from police in a vehicle chase that ended in a crash. Martin then jumped out of his car with a hatchet that he used to strike the driver’s side window of an occupied police car before he was shot by a second officer.

In his testimony Monday, Daydrian Martin said his stepfather, after seeing the video of his fight with Cunningham, threatened to kill the student himself unless Martin took care of things.

“This young man never had much of a chance in life,� Love said. “He was being trained to become a gangster.�

Although Martin admitted to being a member of the Villa Heights, or VH1, gang, there was no evidence presented in court of that playing a role in his dispute with Cunningham.

His mother, Latoya Banks, said she tried with no success to protect Daydrian from his stepfather’s abuse. She asked Clemens to consider his childhood trauma and give him another chance.

“The fact of the matter is that when he made these decisions, he was a child,� Banks testified. “Everybody is trying to paint my child as a monster. He is not a monster.�

But the system labeled him as a serious juvenile offender, meaning that he will be held by the Department of Juvenile Justice for an indeterminate period of time, up until his 21st birthday. After that, he will be transferred to an adult prison to complete his 25-year sentence.

Shortly before Clemens pronounced his sentence of 40 years, with all but 25 suspended, Martin turned to apologize to his victim’s loved ones.

“I can only imagine your pain,� he told them. “I would not wish that pain on anyone.�