Convicted murder Dawud M. Rogers is led from the Lycoming County Courthouse after a jury found him guilty of first degree murder on April 20, 2026. MATTHEW COURTER/Sun-Gazette

Dawud M. Rogers will spend the rest of his life behind bars after being sentenced to life without the possibility of parole for the Dec. 30, 2016 shooting death of William Michael “Mickey” Blackwell.

Lycoming County Judge William Carlucci handed down the mandatory sentence Wednesday morning, one month after a jury convicted Rogers, 44, of first degree murder.

Prosecutors contend that the killing was in retaliation for an assault Blackwell allegedly carried out against Rogers one week prior to the shooting.

“Today you will be sentenced to life in prison, but my son was sentenced the day you took his life,” Blackwell’s mother said to Rogers, as she delivered a victim impact statement, adding that she often thought about what she might say to the person responsible for ripping her son away from those who love him.

“The truth is there are no words strong enough for this kind of pain. No punishment can bring my son back. There is no sentence strong enough to erase the silence and emptiness we live with now,” she said, adding, “but today means you can no longer hurt anyone else the way you hurt us.”

Though Carlucci afforded her the option of reading her statement from the gallery, she chose to address Rogers directly, speaking from the witness stand.

“Every single day, we live with the silence his absence created since the day you decide to play God and take his life,” Blackwell’s mother said, adding that she hopes Rogers will someday understand the pain he’s caused.

“I hope you think of Mickey and remember that he was a human being, not just another case or another job for you,” she said.

“Almost 10 years later, there are mornings I still expect to hear his voice. There are moments when grief hits so hard it feels impossible for me to breathe. A parent should never have to bury their child. That kind of loss changes you forever,” she said.

“I don’t know if you think about what happened. I don’t know if guilt follows you or if you tried to move on. But our family doesn’t get to move on from this. We carry this pain every day. Nothing can bring him back. Nothing can undo what you have done. But I refuse to let his memory just disappear into the shadow of the violence that took him from us,” Blackwell’s mother said.

“The violence is also taking you from your family because of the choices you made,” she said.

“I will continue to speak his name, honor his life and love him for the rest of mine. And while grief may always live with me, his sister, his children and now grandchildren, so will the love we have for my son, a love that even death cannot take away,” she said adding that if she did not forgive him, she could not allow God to allow Rogers to reap what he sowed.

“I feel for your mom, too. Just as you took my son from me, justice is now taking you away from your mother and your children. I just want you to think about that,” Blackwell’s mother said.

Defense attorney Robert Hoffa said that while Rogers offers his condolences over the loss of Blackwell, he maintains his innocence and plans to appeal his conviction.

In addition to the life sentence, Rogers was also ordered to pay $1,850 in restitution for Blackwell’s funeral expenses.