Man convicted of murdering 15-year-old Curtis Ashford Jr. sentenced to life in prison; Eligible for parole in 30 years

A 21-year-old Canton man was sentenced to life in prison Wednesday for his role in the murder of a 15-year-old Dorchester boy who was shot to death in a brazen attack on Ellington Street in July 2022.

Zontre Mack was convicted last month by a jury that found he fired the gun that killed Curtis Ashord Jr. Mack, who was 18 at the time of the murder, will be eligible for parole in 30 years.

Judge Mary Ames imposed the sentence.

Dominick Gavin, 27, of Boston, an accomplice in the shooting, pleaded guilty to accessory after the fact on Aug. 20.

Ames sentenced Gavin to three to four years in state prison.

Curtis Ashford’s aunt said in a victim impact statement that her brother and Ashford’s father, Curtis Ashford Sr., were also taken from someone just like you 16 years ago. “Someone who doesn’t know him, someone who has no regard for the lives of others and what his actions will do to the families he hurts.”

District Attorney Kevin Hayden called the Ellington Street murder “tragedy upon tragedy.”

“Curtis Ashford’s family will forever mourn his loss, and Zontre Mack will spend much of his adult life estranged from his family, all because of the quick and fatal decision to pull the trigger with an illegal gun. “There is nothing but tragedy and sadness in a scenario like this,” Hayden said.