Calling his crimes “cruel, brutal and an intentional act,” a New London Superior Court judge on Monday sentenced a Pawcatuck man to 70 years in prison for stabbing his longtime girlfriend to death in front of her young son four years ago.

A jury in June found 47-year-old Carlton Henderson guilty of murder and risk of injury to a minor.

Judge Shari A. Murphy’s sentence prompted cheers and applause from the dozen or so friends and family members of 41-year-old Brandia Irvin, whose bloodied body was found wedged in the stairwell of her 77 Mechanic St. apartment in Pawcatuck on the morning of Nov. 30, 2019.

Prosecutor Christa Baker said Irvin’s 12-year-old son was forced to witness his mother’s killing ― as she begged to hold him for the last time ― before walking through a path of her blood to call police.

“(Henderson) then went to Dunkin’ Donuts and got a coffee before fleeing the state,” Baker said. “These are the most cowardous, heinous acts I’ve encountered.”

Ahead of the sentencing, several of Irvin’s loved ones spoke of her kind heart, generosity and ability to see the best in anyone. Irvin’s aunt, Diane Cox, noted even in death, her niece was still giving.

“True to her selflessness Brandy was a registered organ donor, Cox said. “As a result, her kidneys made it possible for someone's life to be saved.”

Several speakers used their time to excoriate Henderson, who sat stock-still during the proceedings next to his lawyer, Jerome Paun. Irvin’s longtime friend, Amy Rosado, recalled the pair only had one real argument.

“It was the day she decided to be with the man who ultimately took her life,” Rosado said. “All she wanted was that he love her, to keep a job and help pay bills. She put her faith, hope and love into the person who took her life. You are a real-life monster.”

According to trial testimony, Irvin, a Stonington High School graduate, had been staying with her mother in the days leading up to her death out of fear of Henderson, but decided to return home on the night before the murder, thinking she was safe because she was with her son.

Irvin’s young son testified he watched as Henderson grabbed his mother around the neck, stabbed her and dragged her by the hair as he fled to find help at a neighbor’s home. Irvin sustained four stab wounds to her neck and died in the hospital days after the attack.

The boy’s father, James Hargraves, said Henderson compounded his crimes by insisting on his innocence and forcing his son to testify at trial.

Paun said his client, who was born in New London, has expressed “remorse and sorrow” for his actions, though Henderson still insists he does not recall the murder. Henderson declined to speak at the proceedings.

Henderson’s sentence, the longest allowed under state law, included 60 years without the possibility of parole for murder and 10 years on the risk of injury to a minor charge.

In rendering her sentence, Murphy said she took into account Henderson’s long criminal record, his almost non-existent job history and self-admitted years of drug and alcohol abuse.

“You are not amenable to rehabilitation and are a significant threat to society,” she said.

j.penney@theday.com