Slain teen's partner vows to 'never forgive' killers

The partner of a man murdered in a "cowardly act of revenge" says she can never forgive the father and son who "hunted him down" like an animal.

Jesse Thompson, 19, was in the back seat of an SUV when he was fatally shot on the streets of Wyong, on the NSW Central Coast, in 2017.

At the time, the SUV was being pursued at high speed by a ute driven by John Paul Evans, 57, with his son Keith Evans, 31, in the front passenger seat.

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The duo were found guilty of Thompson's murder in July after a NSW Supreme Court jury retrial.

The Evans' had stolen Thompson's life and "taken everything" from his family, the victim's partner Hanna Andersen told a sentencing hearing on Tuesday.

"(We) were carelessly and unfairly given the harshest life sentence possible," she said in a statement read to the court.

"I will never forgive these people."

Andersen said it was agonising to know how much pain and fear her best friend and "the absolute love of my life" experienced in his last moments.

"His life was treated like some sort of game," she said.

"He was hunted down and left to die like he was some kind of animal, all while his killers continued on that day like nothing happened."

The high-speed car chase came after one of Thompson's friends slept with Keith Evans' girlfriend and was subsequently assaulted.

In retaliation, two men arrived at the Evans home, making threats and smashing the glass front door.

The Evans men and a third person who cannot be identified then piled into a ute and gave chase with deadly consequences.

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Andersen's father, Chris Andersen, became emotional as he highlighted the senselessness of his future son-in-law's murder.

"(It was) a cowardly act of revenge for something he had absolutely nothing to do with," he said, his voice breaking.

"A life stolen so young for no reason."

Thompson was remembered as a generous "angel on earth" with a caring heart whose "incredible smile lit up a room", in powerful statements read to the court.

"He was everybody's best friend," his brother Caleb said.

"He would never want to hurt anyone."

Another of Thompson's brothers witnessed the fatal shooting and blamed himself for not being able to protect his younger brother.

"He made numerous attempts on his life because of the PTSD, depression and grief he was dealing with, and that's something he lived with until the day he passed away," Caleb said.

He urged the sentencing judge to take into consideration the lives John and Keith Evans had ruined when they killed his brother without remorse.

"Jesse is gone forever and no amount of years will bring him back or stop the grief," Caleb told the court.

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"But there just needs to be an example set here."

Justice Richard Weinstein expressed his condolences to the family after their statements, which he would take into consideration when sentencing the Evans at a later date.

Keith Evans has claimed he did not intend to fire the gun or harm Thompson but it went off accidentally.

He and his father were found guilty by a jury and sentenced to more than three decades in prison for Thompson's murder in 2021.

But the conviction was tossed for legal reasons in 2024, triggering a second jury trial and a second round of guilty verdicts.

A third person in the ute - a 25-year-old woman who cannot be identified because she was 17 at the time - has been jailed for more than 14 years after pleading guilty to Thompson's murder.

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