As a drug deal went suddenly sour last year — and three of the four people seated inside a Chevy Malibu began firing at each other at close range — Rafael Reyes Smith, 20, was the only person to escape the vehicle unscathed.

Reyes apologized on Tuesday to the mother of dealer Jarrel Robinson, who died in the gunfight along with the defendant's cousin, as state District Judge Maria Teresa Herr ordered him to serve a 23-year sentence for murder.

“I can't see myself hurting no human being like this. It's not me, you know?” Smith said. “I just got mixed up with the wrong people and dealing with drugs ... It just happened so fast.”

Authorities believe Robinson, 23, was in the driver's seat of the Malibu in April 2011 when he and Terrill Dewayne Hubbard, 24, arrived at a Northeast Side apartment complex to sell drugs to Smith.

The defendant said he only had half of the money but more was coming, according to court documents. That's when his cousin, Myles Williams, 29, also got into the back of the car, pointed a gun at Robinson's head and said, “You know what the (expletive) this is,” documents state.

The shootout that ensued involved at least three guns, police noted. Hubbard, who was shot in the leg but survived, was also eventually charged with murder. His case remains pending.

Smith pleaded no contest to murder in October in exchange for prosecutors agreeing to ask for a sentence of no more than 23 years.

His attorney, Larry Greenwood, asked the judge to consider a lesser sentence, pointing out that Smith had no prior criminal record.

“For someone to start with this kind of case, that's unusual,” Greenwood said outside the courtroom, adding that it's not entirely clear who was robbing who prior to the shootings. “I don't know that anybody expected it to be a murder. Everything just got out of control in a hurry.”

The mother of the man Smith killed told him during a victim impact statement that she understood how “kids can get caught up in things” and make bad choices. Cynthia Robinson said she had pleaded with her son to stay away from drug dealing, and on Tuesday she pleaded with her son's killer to do the same.

“I'm not mad at you, baby. I promise I'm not. I totally release you,” she said, asking him only to consider her request while behind bars. “Don't let your mama go through what I'm going through, because it's irreversible.”



Twitter: @HearsaySA