The first of three men convicted in the murder of a four-year-old Struthers boy has learned his sentence Wednesday morning.

Twenty-four-year-old Andre McCoy (pictured below) was sentenced to 15 years to life in prison on one count of murder with credit for 537 days served in connection with a deadly home invasion that claimed the life of four-year-old Rowan Sweeney back in September of 2020.

Judge Anthony D'Apolito said this sentence was "a long time coming" and that he couldn't think of another case where the community impact was as great as this.

McCoy is one of three men convicted of the murder with the other two being 27-year-old Kimonie Bryant and 21-year-old Brandon Crump. A jury found that Crump was the one who fired the weapon that killed Rowan.

Both Rowan's parents, David Sweeney and Alexis Schneider were present during the sentencing to discuss the impacts the murder has had on them and their families.

David, Rowan's father addressed the court while wearing a t-shirt with his late son's face on it and said Rowan was killed just weeks before his fifth birthday and he was getting ready to enter kindergarten and start playing baseball before he was murdered.

David went on to say his youngest child will never get to meet her big brother and he dreads explaining to his children why Rowan is not here.

"Andre made a life-altering decision that night. He chose greed over life. I would hope to believe he never intended for Rowan to get killed, but his actions were what caused this nightmare to begin," David said.

"You may not have pulled the trigger that night, but you brought the evil into that house. The evil that killed my son," David continued, addressing McCoy directly.

Schneider also took to the stand where she too grilled McCoy for his actions.

"My four-year-old, who didn't even know that evil existed in this world was murdered for nothing," Schneider said.

"Do you know what it's like to witness your child die? Do you know what it's like to have to hold your hand against your child's head to try to repress blood from seeping out while trying not to bleed out from your own injuries? How about trying to stall and plead with the officers and detectives on scene because you know when your son is taken from your arms, you'll never hold him again," Schneider continued. 

McCoy addressed the court apologizing for his actions saying he never intended to have anyone hurt or killed.

Judge D'Apolito told McCoy this entire incident was fueled by nothing but his own greed and that he had already began to pay the price for his actions by being shot in the head during the robbery. Now he will pay the remainder with his prison sentence.

"You saw money, it was not yours and for some reason you thought you were entitled to it. And by that simple sin, everything else followed," Judge D'Apolito said.

"You had every opportunity to go out and earn that money lawfully. Employment, working hard, saving, whatever it might be. That amount of money would have taken you about a month or two or three at most to earn, to feel good about earning it. And instead, because you thought you should have it, this is what happens," Judge D'Apolito continued.

Bryant is scheduled to be sentenced Wednesday afternoon and Crump is scheduled to be sentenced July 29.

McCoy's role in the crime was planning out the robbery of Yarnell Green, who had previously been showing off COVID-19 relief payments he had recently received.

McCoy began planning the robbery with Bryant, who eventually got Crump involved.

During his testimony, McCoy testified he called the robbery off, but one attorney says that wasn't the case since phone records did not appear to reflect this instead showing that he gave Bryant directions on how to access the home.

"Despite telling [his girlfriend] he wasn't going to take the money, McCoy let Bryant know that there were no weapons in the house. Two minutes later, McCoy confirms for Bryant which house and how to enter the house," said defense attorney John Juhasz in a motion filed on Bryant's behalf.