Left: Stephon Dubose (Durham police). Right: Angela Risi (Legacy.com).
Angela Marina Risi was supposed to be celebrating a birthday on Monday, but instead a North Carolina judge sentenced her killer to decades behind bars after he shot her dead because she didn't want to be in an "exclusive relationship" with him.
A judge sent Stephon Dubose, 32, to prison for between 35 and 44 years for the death of Risi and the shooting of her roommate, who survived but now has to walk with a cane. He pleaded guilty last month to second-degree murder and attempted murder for the 2023 shooting in Durham.
"Today, February 23rd, is our daughter Angela's birthday," her father Matt Risi told the judge, local NBC affiliate WRAL reported. "She would have been 33 years old."
The family flew from California to attend Dubose's sentencing.
"In her heart she was just a wonderful soul who cared deeply for disadvantaged people," he told the TV station after the hearing. "She was a very loving person."
Dubose, who was credited for the more than two years he has already served in jail, also addressed the court and apologized to Risi's family.
"I understand that y'all don't want to forgive me," he said. "I wouldn't either if I were in your shoes."
He said he was on drugs at the time of the murder but realized his misdeeds once he came to his senses.
"I took accountability before I even had legal counsel because I knew I was wrong. I will stand on that," he reportedly said. "I'm not running away from it."
As Law&Crime previously reported, cops responded to a home in the 1000 block of Worth Street for a shooting shortly after 7 a.m. on Oct. 2, 2023. When cops arrived, they found Risi suffering from multiple gunshot wounds. In a bedroom, they found Risi's roommate also suffering from gunshot wounds. Both were transported to a hospital where doctors pronounced Risi dead.
Risi's roommate told cops that "Jimmy" shot them. Dubose goes by Jimmy, police said.
About a half hour after the shooting, officers responded to a home in the 4000 block of Tranquil Road for a stabbing. Dubose showed up at his family's home and began stabbing himself, prompting them to call 911. Officers responded and were able to get the knife away from him. Dubose told the cops he just "shot a female in the face and wasn't going back to prison and couldn't live anymore," an affidavit for a search warrant said.
Matt Risi previously told WRAL that moments before his daughter was murdered, she and Dubose were in his car, where they argued over the future of their relationship. Dubose wanted an "exclusive relationship" but she didn't want that, her father explained. She left his car and went into her home.
"He broke in, then chased her to the back of the house … fired 11 rounds, shot her eight times, with a handgun, 9-millimeter handgun," he said. "And then, even more amazing, is he then burst into the bedroom of Angela's roommate and shot her three times. She survived but is permanently disabled."
Matt Risi called his daughter a "really wonderful person."
"Very bright, very smart, always fun," he said in an interview with WRAL. "At her celebration of life, there were well over 200 people who attended and many more who wanted to come as well."
Angela Risi was a second-year graduate student in the dance program at Duke University, the school told local ABC affiliate WTVD at the time.
"The Duke community joins in their shock and sadness at this tragic loss," the school said in a statement.
City council member Dedreana Freeman, who lived next door to the victims, told WTVD that the couple had been arguing in the days leading up to the murder.
"No one deserves to be killed for differences like that. They had an argument Friday. Things got loud and everybody could hear it. Whatever it was on Monday for you to come back and shoot, shouldn't have happened," she said.
The murder victim grew up in California, where she developed a passion for dance.
"She started young with ballet, modern, jazz, and tap dance," her obituary said.