'A disgrace to society': Mother of slain tattoo shop owner lashes out at killer during sentencing

Michael Guilfoyle Jr., in courtroom top inset, was sentenced for the death of Brian Wilson, bottom inset. (Crime scene and defendant screenshots from WXIX/YouTube; Victim screenshot from WLWT/YouTube)

A man who admitted to shooting his friend, who was the owner of an Ohio tattoo shop, 17 times in an argument over money as the victim begged for his life learned his punishment this week.

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Michael Guilfoyle Jr., 33, was sentenced on Monday to 38 years to life in prison for the death of Brian Wilson, 42. Guilfoyle pleaded guilty in June to aggravated murder and aggravated burglary.

In court, Wilson’s wife said he was a good father and husband, according to a report from local NBC affiliate WLWT.

“For me, losing Brian has meant losing my partner, my rock, my soulmate, my best friend, and the love of my life,” Jennifer Wilson said. “Our youngest son Ryker was 3 when this happened. He cries and misses his daddy so much. It breaks my heart that he loses out on having his daddy raise him and teaching him how to become a man.”

In a statement, Brian Wilson’s mother, Judy Wilson, chastised Guilfoyle, Johnson reported.

“The defendant is a parent’s worst nightmare. The worst human any child should have or call father,” Judy Wilson said in a statement read by a relative. “A disgrace to society and to our country and should not be considered a Marine and does not deserve the title of a veteran.”

The defendant, a former Marine who served in Afghanistan, apologized.

Wilson was killed on Jan. 8, 2023, at Stay Gold Tattoo Studio in Batavia Township, authorities said in a news release . The area is about 26 miles east of Cincinnati.

The Clermont County Communication Center received a 911 open line call that morning. Dispatchers did not have direct communication with the caller but heard an argument over money, followed by gunshots, sheriff’s officials said in the news release.

“There’s a man yelling, ‘Give me the money. I’m going to shoot. Give me the money,'” the dispatcher said, WLWT reported. “There’s another man in the background saying that he doesn’t have $2,500 on him.”

Patrol deputies from the Clermont County Sheriff’s Office and nearby law enforcement agencies responded.

An affidavit described the response and arrest, which was caught on police body camera footage, ABC affiliate WCPO reported.

The first officer to arrive heard shots fired, a pause, then two more shots. He saw a man with a gun at the edge of a highway and Wilson lying unresponsive on the road nearby, where he died. The officer ordered the gunman to get on the ground. Additional officers arrived, and the gunman, later identified as Guilfoyle, was taken into custody.

Guilfoyle told police he shot the victim 17 times “because he owed him money and it was someone he thought was his friend,” the affidavit said.

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