TOMS RIVER —The father of a 4-year-old Toms River boy who shot and killed his 6-year-old friend was sentenced to three years in prison today for leaving the weapon unsecured and accessible to the children in the house.

A tearful Anthony Senatore, who said he is tormented by Brandon Holt's death, apologized to the family of the boy he said was like a member of his own family.

He defended himself as a responsible and upstanding man who happened to make a bad mistake by not securing the gun used to kill his neighbors' child.



"I am not a monster as some have portrayed me to be," Senatore said, reading from a letter he wrote to the judge." I have lived and worked in Ocean County all my life. I have been a God-fearing law-abiding citizen."

Father of boy, 4, who shot and killed 6-year-old faces sentencing

He said that as a sportsman and a hunter, he is no different from others pursuing their hobbies. But, he said, he made "one horrible mistake, one terrible lapse in judgment which will haunt me for the remainder of my days."

He said he cannot begin to know the suffering of Brandon's parents.

"My wife and my children are my life, which makes what happened...so very painful," Senatore said. "I cannot begin to fathom the loss of any of my children, therefore I cannot imagine the depth of pain and sorrow that Ron and Christine experience on a daily basis."

As Senatore expressed his remorse for the Holt family's loss, Brandon's parents, Ron and Christine Holt, sat crying in the front row of the Toms River courtroom.

Christine Holt, her face crumpling in anguish at times, wore around her neck a heart-shaped locket with a photo of her son on it.

She told Superior Court Judge Wendel E. Daniels that she and her husband used to imagine what Brandon would be when he grew up. Now they imagine what he would have been, she said.

She said she suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder and is consumed with thoughts that she didn't do her duty as a mother.

"I couldn't protect him. I couldn't save him. It's my job. I would have given anything to do so," she said.

Because her family can't afford to move, she said, she's tortured every day at seeing the house two doors away where the shooting occurred.

Despite being sentenced to prison, Senatore eventually will have the opportunity to see his three children again, she noted.

"We've been sentenced to life without Brandon for no just cause," Christine Holt said.

Senatore will serve between nine and 10 months of his sentence before becoming eligible for parole.

His attorney, Robert Ebberup, said Senatore had a gun safe but the gun that Senatore's son found was under Senatore's bed. He said Senatore stashed it there days before the shooting because he heard a noise during the night he thought may have been a burglar. Senatore left the gun under his bed for a few days out of fear that the suspected burglar might return and then forgot about it, Ebberup said.

"He forgot that it was there and we know the rest. We know what happened after that," Ebberup said.

He said Senatore wanted to attend the boy's wake privately, but understandably his request was denied. Instead, he watched Brandon's funeral down the street from the church. And he visits Brandon's grave, Ebberup said.

Brandon and Senatore's 4-year-old son were playing in the Senatores' rented McCormick Drive home when the younger boy got his father's .22-caliber rifle from his parents' bedroom, authorities have said. The boys were playing "pretend shooting" on April 8, 2013, when the gun discharged and the shot hit Brandon in the head.

Brandon was rushed to Jersey Shore University Medical Center in Neptune where he died the next day.

Senatore pleaded guilty on Oct. 30 to a second-degree child endangerment charge for the danger posed to his own children and to a third-degree child endangerment charge for Brandon's death.

Filling the courtroom were nearly three dozen members of the Holt family, including Brandon's grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins. Brandon's older brother, Skylar Watins, and older sister, Amanda Pepe, who told Daniels of their pain and anxiety and losing their little brother.

First Assistant Atlantic County Prosecutor Diane Ruberton said the shooting was not an accident because Senatore did not secure the 10 weapons he kept in his home. She said he had just remodeled his basement into a "man cave" that had a section with a locked door behind which Senatore could have kept the weapons.

"In this case, this was a tragedy waiting to happen the way the guns were lying around the house," Ruberton told Daniels.

Daniels said that although Senatore took responsibility for his actions and expressed true remorse, a prison term was necessary to deter him and others from leaving unsecured weapons around children.

"Their loss is immeasurable. They're suffering emotional trauma," Daniels said of the Holt family. "Both sides are in great pain and deeply suffering."

Senatore took off his wedding ring and handed it to Ebberup before Ocean County sheriff's officers handcuffed his wrists behind his back and led him out of the courtroom.

Christine and Ron Holt each have one child from a previous marriage and together have another son besides Brandon.

Senatore's case was handled by the Atlantic County Prosecutor's Office because Senatore's mother was a lieutenant in the Ocean County Prosecutor's Office until her retirement in 2010. Her husband, Anthony Senatore, was a detective with the Jackson Police Department and also retired in 2010. Senatore's maternal grandfather was captain of detectives in the Ocean County Prosecutor's Office until he retired in1995.

MaryAnn Spoto may be reached at mspoto@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @MaryAnnSpoto. Find NJ.com on Facebook.