A man who shot and killed his girlfriend during a domestic dispute in 2023 will serve a life sentence with the chance for parole after 30 years.

Johnny Leroy Brown, 52, was sentenced on Thursday after a jury convicted him of first-degree murder for the Dec. 17, 2023, killing of 43-year-old Kesha Moore.

As previously reported, Johnny Brown called 911 twice on the night of Moore’s death to report that she pulled a gun on him and she was “shot down.” Police responding to Moore’s Minneapolis apartment found her dead and moved several feet.

Johnny Brown was arrested during a traffic stop in Golden Valley on Dec. 18. When questioned, he claimed Moore drew a gun on him during an argument and he disarmed her. Johnny Leroy Brown said the gun went off after he “bumped” the trigger, a criminal complaint states.

Investigators say the gun that killed Moore has a trigger pull of 5 pounds, 5 ounces and was unlikely to go off if bumped.

At his sentencing hearing on Thursday, Johnny Brown denied any culpability and maintained that the shooting was an accident. He said Moore had previously encountered the same malfunction he described to investigators.

“I’ve told the truth. I’ve been telling the truth,” Johnny Brown said. “And I told the officers four days before that that Kesha had that same accident with that same gun. They did not investigate that.”

“She was just a sweet soul,” said Moore’s aunt, Lisa Brown. “She had everything going for her, it’s really sad that he stole that from us.”

Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty said prosecutors built a case against Johnny Leroy Brown using testimony from “numerous women” whom he had abused in the past.

“My sister’s soul can rest now that he can never hurt another woman again,” said Kena Johnson, Moore’s sister.

Prior to Moore’s death, Brown had served nearly 10 years in federal prison for a 2007 case in which he fired a gun in the air during a disagreement with an ex-girlfriend. He had been ineligible to possess a gun due to a violent crime conviction in 2001 and had several orders for protection against him.

“To see him go away… was a good feeling,” Lisa Brown said. “I know he can hurt nobody else; justice was served.”

Click here for information on the Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office Domestic Abuse Service Center.