Victor Lee Thompson, center, walked to his seat prior to a sentencing hearing Thursday before Wood County Circuit Court Judge Jason Wharton. Wharton pronounced the sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole, as determined by a jury at Thompson’s October trial. (Photo by Evan Bevins)

PARKERSBURG — Darren Salaam’s family described him Thursday as a good father who loved Christmas as a judge sentenced the man who fatally shot him to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

After finding Victor Lee Thompson, 45, guilty of felony murder with the underlying intent of burglary in October, a jury determined his sentence should be without mercy.

Wood County Circuit Court Judge Jason Wharton pronounced that sentence Thursday after denying motions from the defense for a new trial or a post-trial acquittal.

Thompson was arrested in June 2021, a week after he shot and killed Salaam, 36, of Akron, at a Parkersburg residence. At his trial this fall, Thompson testified that he had gone to the house to get a refund or replacements for some bad drugs and gotten into an altercation. Thompson wound up shooting Salaam, who he said he had not met before and did not know was in the house when he went there. He claimed it was self-defense.

Prosecutor Pat Lefebure argued Thompson had time to take another course of action and had no regard for the life of Salaam, described in the trial as a supplier of drugs to people in the house. When he was arrested after hiding out in a trailer in Ritchie County for several days, Thompson allegedly told a deputy that white people had to stick together and referred to Salaam by a racially derogatory term.

Victor Thompson, right, awaited the start of his sentencing hearing Thursday with attorneys J. Morgan Leach, left, and William Morris. Wood County Circuit Court Judge Jason Wharton pronounced the sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole, as determined by a jury at Thompson’s October trial. (Photo by Evan Bevins)

Thompson did not speak in Thursday’s sentencing hearing except to answer questions from the judge.

When given the opportunity, Salaam’s family discussed him and the effect his death has had upon their lives.

His mother, Talisa Salaam, is raising three of her son’s five children.

“Christmas is Darren’s favorite time of the year, so I’m trying to make the best of it for them,” she said.

Talisa Salaam described her son as “the sweetest, kindest person you could ever want to know,” recalling a time when he went to school wearing a new pair of Air Jordans and gave them to another student who had holes in his shoes.

Rhonda Bay, right, spoke at her sentencing hearing Thursday as Assistant Wood County Prosecutor Blaire Hudson, left, and defense attorney Joe Munoz listened. Bay was sentenced to time served, 344 days, after pleading guilty Sept. 30 to a misdemeanor charge of accessory after the fact to burglary in connection with the 2021 shooting death of Darren Salaam. (Photo by Evan Bevins)

Salaam’s aunt, Sharon Brown, called Thompson “a coward and a bully” for shooting her nephew in the back, but said she would not hate him.

“The God I serve will not allow me to hate you, as bad as I want to,” she said. “We won’t give you the satisfaction to ruin us.”

Brown added that the family was still dealing with the death of Darren’s oldest son in a drive-by shooting when he was killed.

The victim’s brother, Demetrius Salaam, said he was to attend his son’s graduation the day Darren died.

“The best day of my life became the worst day of my life,” he said. “A part of me died, and it’s always going to be gone.”

Attorney Joe Munoz, standing, spoke at the sentencing hearing for his client, Rhonda Bay, right, Thursday in Wood County Circuit Court. Bay was sentenced to time served, 344 days, after pleading guilty Sept. 30 to a misdemeanor charge of accessory after the fact to burglary in connection with the 2021 shooting death of Darren Salaam. (Photo by Evan Bevins)

Earlier Thursday in a related case, Rhonda Bay, 35, of Parkersburg, was sentenced to 344 days in jail for her role in the case, all of which was credited as time served. Bay pleaded guilty in September to a misdemeanor charge of accessory after the fact to burglary.

“You have served the maximum amount of time you could have served for this offense,” said Wharton, noting she spent 211 days at the North Central Regional Jail and 133 on home confinement.

Bay was originally charged with accessory after the fact to murder. She previously told the court she was aware Thompson had broken into a house when she provided him with food and cigarettes and told him he could hide at an old tattoo shop on 19th Street but did not immediately know he had shot and killed someone.

“I wish I could have made it different,” she said Thursday. “I would have called the cops for sure.”

Her attorney, Joe Munoz, said his client had taken responsibility for her actions and obeyed the law after being released from jail. He also pointed to her testimony at Thompson’s trial.

Assistant Prosecutor Blaire Hudson acknowledged Bay’s cooperation and said the state did not object to the defense’s motion for a sentence of time served.

Evan Bevins can be reached at ebevins@newsandsentinel.com.