With the ashes of her victim in the courtroom, a 21-year-old St. Paul woman has been sentenced for fatally stabbing another woman in a transit hub parking ramp in downtown Minneapolis.
Ivory M. Andis was sentenced Friday in Hennepin County District Court to 25 years in prison for the death of Dargenella Wade, 44, of Minneapolis, last summer.
With credit for time served since her arrest on June 25, 2015, Andis will likely serve roughly 16 years in prison before spending the rest of her sentence on supervised release on her conviction for second-degree murder.
Wade's family and friends packed one side of the courtroom of Judge Daniel Mabley. They wore blue T-shirts with a picture of the victim and the words "Sugar Plum 5/12/71-6/25/15."
At least two family members carried small urns containing some of her ashes, according to one court observer.
"You took our light and made it dark," Lisa Jones, Wade's cousin, said in a victim-impact statement to the court. "Our sunshine" is not shining anymore. "Asking for leniency is totally disrespectful for the life you took."
Assistant County Attorney Sarah Hilleren argued that Andis should receive a 30-year term. Hilleren pointed out that Wade and Andis fought earlier that morning, and Wade walked a short distance to the transit station.
Andis cried throughout her statement to the court and apologized repeatedly to the family.
