PORTLAND, Ore. — The mother of a pregnant woman shot and killed in Portland in 2014 criticized the Multnomah County District Attorney’s Office and the court system during an emotional sentencing hearing for two men who pleaded guilty in her daughter’s death. A spokesperson said the case could not go to trial due to witnesses who would not testify because they feared for their lives.

Kelani Brown and DeAnthony Simmons pleaded guilty this week to manslaughter and burglary charges in the death of Ervaeua Herring.

The Multnomah County judge sentenced Brown to a combined seven and a half years in prison. Brown, who appeared in court from jail, apologized to Herring’s mother, who was emotional through much of the hearing.

The judge gave Simmons a total of 10 years in prison with credit for time served since May 2016.

Both defendants have varying lengths of supervised release after their prison sentences.

A press release from the DA's office said Herring's shooting stemmed from a fight that broke out in downtown Portland in 2014. Brown and Simmons were there during the fight when someone they knew was shot. Brown, Simmons, and others drove to Herring’s apartment complex looking for her boyfriend, DeAndrae Stevens, who was associated with the group that participated in the fight.

Prosecutors said six armed gunmen first entered the wrong apartment and threatened a woman and her small children with guns. Realizing their mistake, the gunmen knocked on Herring’s back door and fired approximately 30 shots into the apartment when she came to the door, killing Herring, according to prosecutors.

Police arrested Brown and Simmons in 2016, who are the third and fourth defendants to plead guilty.

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Herring’s mother called the sentences a “slap on the wrist” and said Brown and Simmons ruined her grandson’s life, who she said asks about his mother frequently. She says she only heard of the plea agreement Thursday, less than 24 hours before sentencing.

Brown spoke to Herring’s mother and said, “I’m man enough” to apologize. Simmons did not speak to her mother in court.

The trial was scheduled to begin on January 10, but the prosecution was hampered by multiple critical witnesses’ reluctance to testify "due to safety concerns," according to the DA's office. According to the DA's office, Stevens was shot and killed two weeks ago in Portland which contributed to further concern and lack of cooperation among critical witnesses.