Tristin Chamberlain, 23, speaks during his sentencing hearing in Cumberland County Superior Court on Friday while his attorney Amy Fairfield looks on. Chamberlain pleaded guilty to manslaughter in the 2022 death of Tyler Flexon. Ben McCanna/Portland Press Herald

A Maine man will serve 12 years in state prison for a deadly shooting two years ago in the Parkside area of Portland.

Tyler Flexon and his mom, Michelle Krauss. Photo courtesy Ronald Flexon

Tristin Chamberlain, 23, pleaded guilty in September to manslaughter in the death of 26-year-old Tyler Flexon. Investigators said Chamberlain shot Flexon the night of Nov. 29, 2022, after an argument at the Mellen Street Market.

Chamberlain was indicted on one count of murder, which could resulted in a sentence of 25 years to life in prison. Prosecutors let Chamberlain plead guilty to the lesser charge of manslaughter during a hearing on Sept. 16, days before the case was supposed to go to trial.

During Chamberlain’s sentencing Friday morning in Cumberland County Superior Court, Flexon’s family said they still consider their son’s death a murder.

His family said they struggled to make sense of his death and are now struggling to make sense of this sentence. Flexon was at a pivotal moment in his life, his father Ronald Flexon said; he was preparing to propose to his girlfriend and had a young daughter, who is now being raised by her grandparents.

Ronald Flexon, who lives in Pennsylvania, said he feels Maine’s laws are soft on crime. He thought Superior Justice Thomas McKeon cut Chamberlain too big of a break.

“He gets to enjoy his life after he gets out. He gets to rebuild his life,” Ronald Flexon said. “My family can’t rebuild itself.”

Chamberlain apologized to Flexon’s family on Friday, but also maintained that he fired in self-defense. He said he was afraid that Flexon could harm him or his girlfriend, who was serving Flexon a drink at the neighborhood market and bar when the two men started arguing.

“I do deserve prison time,” said Chamberlain. “But the story that has been used against me is completely wrong.”

Ronald Flexon addresses the court during the sentencing of Tristin Chamberlain, who pleaded guilty to killing Flexon’s son Tyler. Ben McCanna/Portland Press Herald

State prosecutors argued the shooting was not self-defense and that Chamberlain had sought out a confrontation.

McKeon sentenced him to 21 years in prison, with all but 12 years suspended, and four years of probation. He was also ordered to pay $4,500 in restitution to the victims’ compensation program and is legally barred from owning a gun.

Chamberlain’s attorneys declined to discuss the sentence after the hearing.

His lawyer Amy Fairfield said during the hearing that her client had a difficult upbringing, with poor role models who exposed him to crime and violence. She said this landed him at the Long Creek Youth Development Center as a teenager because “there was no other place for him to go.”

Some of that resonated with McKeon, who said he hopes Chamberlain will succeed on probation.

SUSPECT ARGUES SELF-DEFENSE

McKeon said the facts showed there was an argument at the bar, during which Chamberlain was caught on camera flashing his gun. Chamberlain left the market but returned an hour and a half later. Security cameras recorded him shouting at Flexon from outside.

Police spoke to several neighbors, including one who said he heard a man shout “Let’s do this, come out here.”

Justice Thomas McKeon delivers a 12-year prison sentence to Tristin Chamberlain on Friday. Ben McCanna/Portland Press Herald

Chamberlain went back after a phone call with his girlfriend, on which he heard Flexon yelling in the background, according to his lawyers.

Fairfield said Chamberlain fired a warning shot before shooting Flexon. She said that Flexon, who was larger than Chamberlain, had been chasing her client and he panicked.

“I believe that this is the definition of an imperfect self-defense case,” Fairfield said.

Assistant Attorney General Bud Ellis said a chase would have been nearly impossible, especially given that it all occurred on one corner. Flexon was shot within “seconds” of leaving the market, he said.

Neighbors contradicted Chamberlain’s account, he said, and all but one person told police they heard only a single shot.

One witness saw Flexon “backpedaling” away from Chamberlain, Ellis said.

“The point is, the defendant wanted a confrontation with him,” Ellis said. “He came back with a firearm. … He did not get into a boxing match, or a fistfight. He used a gun.”

After shooting Flexon, Chamberlain ran, leaving Flexon bleeding on the sidewalk.

Michelle Krauss reads a victim’s impact statement during a sentencing hearing on Friday. Krauss’ son, Tyler Flexon, was shot and killed in 2022. Ben McCanna/Portland Press Heral

A FAMILY WHO LOVED HIM

Flexon’s family asked McKeon on Friday to sentence Chamberlain to the most time possible — 30 years, according to state law. The state had sought a 28-year sentence.

“We’ll never be at ease,” Ronald Flexon said. “We’re never going to forget, nor do we ever want to forget our son. There isn’t a moment that goes by that we don’t think of him.”

Tyler Flexon grew up in a middle-class, Catholic family in Pennsylvania, his father said. Tyler loved the outdoors, especially fishing, but chose to live in Portland as an adult because he also loved the “city life,” his father said.

He had a good group of friends and a family who loved him. He was a hard worker and somewhat of a health nut, who loved boxing and eating well.

He called his mother, Michelle Krauss, several times a week. She said they had just talked the night before he was shot, and he had promised to call again soon.

“I had to wrap my head around the fact that he’d never be calling me again,” Krauss said.

Ronald Flexon and his wife, Dana, have adopted Flexon’s own daughter, who is now 6 years old.

Chamberlain told the court he was sorry for Flexon’s death, and McKeon said he believed that remorse was heartfelt. Chamberlain said he had to “choke back tears” while Krauss spoke.

“I didn’t know he was a father. I didn’t know him at all,” said Chamberlain.

This story was updated on Dec. 30 to correct two instances in which Flexon’s name was misspelled.