Andrew Lopez in court today, where he was sentenced to 55 years to life for fatally shooting a mother of 12 from a Brooklyn rooftop. (Spencer Burnett)
An unrepentant Brooklyn gangbanger who gunned down a mother of 12 loudly proclaimed his innocence just before he was slammed with a massive sentence of 55 years to life behind bars today – as the murdered mom’s three-year-old daughter cried in court.
Andrew Lopez, 20, was convicted last month of fatally shooting Zurana Horton, 34, while firing at rival gang members from a Brownsville rooftop in 2011.
Lopez turned to face Horton’s family in Brooklyn Supreme Court today, calling out, “I honestly didn’t shoot off that roof. I didn’t shoot off the roof and the shooter is still out there.”
Horton’s family and prosecutors didn’t buy Lopez’s claims of innocence.
“I know she’s looking down at us right now and justice has been served,” said Horton’s mom Denise Peace, who held Horton’s daughter Neiyma, 3.
“The evidence speaks for itself. He was on the roof and he shot 13 times and he killed Zurana Horton,” said assistant district attorney Seth Goldman.
Horton’s son Tyquran Horton, 18, said his mother would never see him graduate or marry.
“Everybody tells me to move on, but I can’t move on,” he said. “It was really hard to see my mother go like that.”
Horton was Peace’s third child to die from gun violence – one son was shot and killed in a robbery and another in a street corner argument.
Lopez’s older brother, Jonathan Carrasquillo, 24, who was acquitted of the shooting last month, was also in court today along with the killer’s mother. Prosecutors had said Carrasquillo ordered Lopez to the roof with orders to fire, but the Brooklyn jury found him not guilty.
jsaul@nypost.com