A judge sentenced a man to 82 years Wednesday for a Merrillville hotel murder.

A jury convicted Barry Billingsley, 45, in 36-year-old Anthony Gibbs’ October 2021 murder and a gun enhancement.

He said he would appeal.

The victim’s mother, Tammy Gibbs, said in court the years-long court case was a “frustrating journey.”

When she got a call that her son was at Methodist, she didn’t “think it was anything bad.”

By the time she and family arrived, he was already dead. Doctors told her they did everything they could.

He was a “mama’s boy” and buried in her cemetery spot next to his dad, who died when her son was 6.

Anthony Gibbs, who had five kids, was a jokester, a good cook, and loved to fish and draw, including tattoos.

“We feel his absence,” she said. “We live with it every day.”

Following the hearing, Tammy said she didn’t like her son’s girlfriend and refused to let them stay at her house. Instead, they went to try to rent a room that night.

She didn’t think her son saw it coming.

She wanted life in prison and was satisfied with the sentence. Now Billingsley can’t “do it to someone else.”

In court, his daughter Jade Gibbs said she was out to dinner when she got the call. At the time, she was still in high school.

Now, she is pregnant with a boy who is due at the end of the summer. Family said his middle name will be Anthony.

Family members also said in court they believed Billingsley mocked them throughout the case, “blowing kisses” and with “looks” and “smirks.”

Months before he killed Gibbs, Billingsley was paroled after 12 years for a 2010 North Carolina second-degree murder conviction, records show.

He was a “time bomb waiting to happen,” Gibbs’ aunt Tracy Ward said.

Defense lawyer Casey McCloskey, representing him with co-counsel Sonya Scott-Dix, read a letter from Billingsley’s mom noting he grew up on a military base in Alaska. After his parents divorced, he grew up without a father.

“There is no winners,” she wrote of the case. “Everyone suffers.”

Deputy Prosecutor Judy Massa said they do not know what led to the shooting.

Gibbs, his girlfriend and her pitbull — both also shot — were not “aggressive.”

After the first shot likely killed Gibbs — piercing his hand and striking his face — Billingsley continued to open fire, Massa said.

She also noted Billingsley was caught on a recent jail call asking a man to intimidate three witnesses not to show.

One, the then-girlfriend who was shot, was now homeless and likely living under a Hammond bridge, she said.

Billingsley has a pending case after he was allegedly caught with a homemade weapon in jail. Something similar happened in the North Carolina case.

Massa asked for 80 years.

McCloskey said there was no evidence Billingsley stopped witnesses from showing up at court. He had a supportive mother and 4-year-old daughter.

He asked for a minimal sentence.

Judge Gina Jones asked if his client wanted to speak.

“I have absolutely nothing to say, your honor,” Billingsley responded.

Jones said there were “so many instances of familiarity” with how he allegedly acted in the Indiana and North Carolina cases.

When police were called Oct. 2, 2021 to the Economy Inn, 8275 Louisiana St. in Merrillville, they found Gibbs “unresponsive” around 6 p.m. on the sidewalk outside, shot in the face and leg, according to court documents.

Gibbs’ girlfriend tried to rent a room that day, but couldn’t because she only had a photo of her identification. Gibbs was on a “do not rent list,” according to court documents.

About an hour before the shooting, they were at a different motel, where she saw an acquaintance and asked for a ride to a Super 8 to get some things and bring it back.

“Hold on,” the woman said before pulling into a spot in front of a room. Inside, Billingsley told another man to get Gibbs to leave, who was sitting on a chair outside the room.

“Oh, no, no, no, back up, I’m not helping y’all,” Billingsley’s friend said.

Just then, two police officers drove by. Billingsley told them to move along “unless they were buying something,” court records said.

The couple went to Economy Inn, where the woman failed to get a room without her ID. The woman saw a friend of hers and went up to chat with her in the SUV, court documents said.

Billingsley appeared from a room, with a gun in his pocket, then stepped outside, getting into an argument with Gibbs, according to the affidavit.

“Didn’t I tell you not to come around here,” Billingsley said.

“All right dude, I’m leaving,” Gibbs said, appearing to back away, documents said.

As Gibbs leaned down to grab his bags, his girlfriend heard gunshots and felt her foot “burning” and her dog was yelping from getting shot, court documents said.

She didn’t realize Gibbs had been shot until she saw him on the ground.

mcolias@post-trib.com