Colorado prosecutors say a Denver family’s grief has now been met with a decades-long prison term for the man they blame for an execution-style doorstep killing that unfolded after a workplace firing.

Ernest Cunningham, 53, received a 42-year state prison sentence Friday for the June 2024 shooting death of Kelsey Roberts-Gariety, Denver District Attorney John Walsh announced. A jury had already found Cunningham guilty in the case.

Walsh framed the punishment as accountability for a life cut short. “Kelsey Roberts was a young woman with her whole life ahead of her who would be with us today were it not for Ernest Cunningham,” he said. “Today’s sentence ensures that Cunningham will pay a heavy price for his horrific actions.”

Investigators have said Cunningham was on parole at the time, having been released from a 20-year sentence for burglary. While under supervision, he was employed by Roberts-Gariety’s husband, Jack.

According to an arrest affidavit cited by The Denver Post, Jack fired Cunningham in the weeks leading up to the killing after concluding he was using drugs at work. Authorities have not publicly specified what kind of job Cunningham held or what work Jack did.

After being let go, Cunningham’s anger escalated into threats, police records indicate. He repeatedly called Jack, warning him, and at least once appeared at the couple’s apartment without permission, according to the affidavit.

On the night Roberts-Gariety was killed, investigators say Cunningham went to the apartment intending to confront Jack. Instead, when Roberts-Gariety opened the door, Cunningham shot her. She was pronounced dead at the scene.

In the aftermath, Jack Gariety told officers that Cunningham “knew where they lived and had issues with him,” The Denver Post reported. Police also reviewed surveillance video that, according to reporting by the outlet, showed Cunningham’s vehicle leaving the building shortly after the gunfire.

The case has also renewed scrutiny of how the state evaluates people on parole. 9News reported that a parole officer had classified Cunningham as “low risk” roughly two months before the homicide, despite a record that included two failed drug tests and two missed tests in the prior four months. The Colorado Department of Corrections has since acknowledged significant shortcomings in parts of its risk-assessment and screening system for individuals considered among the state’s more dangerous offenders.

For Roberts-Gariety’s relatives, the sentencing marked a painful milestone rather than closure. Her sister, Kylie Al-Nubu’at, told 9News she believes the homicide might have been prevented if Cunningham had remained incarcerated. “she might still be here,” she said.

Al-Nubu’at said the killing happened on Roberts-Gariety’s birthday, a detail that has intensified the family’s trauma as they have tried to navigate daily life without her. Roberts-Gariety was 23 and one of nine siblings.

Still, Al-Nubu’at said the 42-year term brought some comfort. “When I heard the amount, I was very happy because I told myself if it’s over 20 (years) it’s basically a life sentence for him,” she told 9News.

“He took my sister’s life. We’re serving a life sentence of grief, so now I feel like justice has been served.”