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Damion Colvin, Minot, sentenced to 15 years for murder

Damion Michael Allen Colvin, 23, Minot, was sentenced on Friday to 20 years in prison, with five years suspended, followed by five years of supervised probation for the Class A felony murder of his stepbrother, Andrew Parisien, on May 13, 2020, at a Minot residence.

Colvin will receive credit for 527 days already served in the Ward County Jail. Under state law, he must serve a mandatory minimum sentence of four years because a weapon was involved in the crime and he must serve at least 12 years, or 85 percent of the sentence.

According to court documents and statements at past court hearings, Colvin had argued with his stepbrother and asked him to leave his residence. The argument continued outside the home and escalated to a physical “tussle.” Colvin went back into the residence, grabbed his girlfriend’s gun and went back outside to shoot Parisien multiple times in the chest and abdomen. Parisien sustained four gunshot wounds and was pronounced dead at the hospital a short time later. When police arrived, Colvin told a police investigator, “I did it. I shot him.”

The state agreed to amend the charge from Class AA felony murder to Class A felony murder because they deemed that Colvin was under emotional duress at the time. Colvin has claimed he was afraid for his life and had been threatened.

According to statements made during the sentencing hearing on Friday, a pre-sentence investigation found that Colvin has a tendency to act on impulse.

Family members of Parisien who spoke during the sentencing hearing on Friday cried and said they do not believe Colvin was acting in self-defense and there is no justification for what he did.

“I just hope the family knows that I really am sorry,” Colvin said at the sentencing hearing. “I wish I had done anything different.”

Colvin will also be required to pay court costs and restitution to the crime victim fund and has been ordered to have no contact with family members of Parisien for the duration of his sentence.

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