A Schenectady man was sentenced Wednesday to decades in prison for fatally shooting a man on his 21^st birthday in 2022.

Anthony Romero, 25, was sentenced to 37 years to life in prison for killing Treavine Tate on May 30, 2022 on Hulett St. in Schenectady, according to the Schenectady County District Attorney’s Office.

Romero had gotten into an argument with Tate and then Romero drew a pistol from a bag across his body. Tate was unarmed. He walked away from Romero after the gun was pulled. Romero followed him and shot repeatedly, including after he had fallen on the ground, police said.

Romero admitted to firing every bullet in the chamber.

He then hid the gun in a dumpster on the property of a school near the killing, prosecutors said. It was never recovered. Romero then burned the clothes and fled the state.

Romero remained on the run for about five months until he was caught in Albany by U.S. Marshals and the Albany Police Department.

Romero had attempted to claim self-defense at trial. A jury rejected that argument and convicted him in February on second-degree murder, two counts of criminal possession of a weapon and tampering with physical evidence.

He received the maximum sentence of 25 years to life on the murder count, 10 years each on the weapons charges, to be served consecutively, and 2 to 4 years on the tampering charge.

Tate’s family and loved ones were in the courtroom to make victim impact statements.

Schenectady County District Attorney Robert Carney said cases like this should serve as a warning to other.

“People facing homicide charges in this county should take note that if you kill someone by shooting them to death with an illegal weapon, and a jury finds you guilty after trial, you are not likely to receive leniency from our county court judges,” he said in a statement.