Kaa Caputo, mother of Tahliek Taliaferro, wipes a tear after the sentencing of Joseph Parrish Jr. at the Powhatan County Courthouse in Powhatan, Va., June 4. Joseph Parrish Jr. was sentenced to 16 years and Ethan Parrish to 11 years for the June 2008 shooting death of a popular high school athlete, Tahliek Taliaferro, and the wounding of another teen. AP Wide World Photo/Steve Helber

Powhatan Circuit Judge Thomas V. Warren was scheduled to sentence Joseph Parrish Jr. and Ethan Parrish on June 4. They were convicted in March of involuntary manslaughter and other charges in the June 2008 shooting death of Tahliek Taliaferro, 18, and wounding of another teen.

The jury recommended 11 years for Ethan Parrish, 25, who fired six shots with an assault rifle into a car carrying Mr. Taliaferro. Joseph Parrish, 18, faces up to 16 years, but because he was a juvenile at the time of the shooting his sentence is up to the judge.

Stephanie Reynolds, 20, who was driving the Parrishes, previously pleaded guilty to two misdemeanors and received no more jail time.

All three originally were charged with first-degree murder and faced up to life in prison.

The outcomes sparked protests and marches, with civil rights leaders calling it a “miscarriage of justice” and one equating it to a “legal lynching” at a rally that drew about 300 people.

Mr. Taliaferro was Black; the Parrishes and Reynolds are White. The jury consisted of 11 White people and one Black person.

“Race is a prominent factor in this whole matter,” Virginia State NAACP Conference Executive Director King Salim Khalfani told reporters June 3. “There is no way on the planet if the situation were reversed that two African males would get away with shooting six times into an occupied vehicle with an AK-47—known as the killing machine of the world—without getting some serious, serious time.”

Mr. Khalfani urged Judge Warren to set aside the verdicts and sentence the Parrishes to life in prison.

Judge Warren cannot sentence the Parrishes to more than the maximum 10 years on the involuntary manslaughter charges because judges in Virginia are barred from going above the jury's recommendation. He also couldn't set aside the verdict without declaring a mistrial, and then there would have to be another trial, said Betty Layne DesPortes, a Richmond criminal defense attorney.

“What the NAACP is asking may be politically attractive—it may sound good to a lot of people—but unfortunately it has no basis in the law,” Ms. DesPortes said. “Right now the judge simply has no power to do what the NAACP is requesting.”

Attorney Craig S. Cooley, who represents Joseph Parrish, told the Richmond Times-Dispatch that he would ask Judge Warren to toss out the teen's guilty verdicts because there was insufficient evidence that his actions led to Mr. Taliaferro's death.

Joseph Parrish didn't fire a shot, but he faces more time than his cousin because he also was convicted of possession of a firearm by a felon.

The incident was the result of bad blood between Joseph Parrish and Mr. Taliaferro. On June 24, 2008, the two got into a confrontation outside an ice cream shop and Mr. Parrish told Mr. Taliaferro to follow him so they could fight.

Ethan Parrish told Mr. Reynolds to pull over on the side of the road, and he waited for the car carrying Mr. Taliaferro to pass. He testified at his March trial that he became scared when someone in the car in which Mr. Taliaferro was riding pointed a weapon toward him. Police later found a BB gun resembling a 9mm handgun in that vehicle.

Mr. Parrish said he wanted to scare the people in the other car, so he fired at the ground but lost control and shot into the vehicle, hitting Mr. Taliaferro in the head and Courtney Jones, then 15, in the back, sending him to the hospital where portions of his small and large intestines were removed.

Jurors decided the shooting was accidental, convicting both the Parrishes of the reduced charges.

“Judge Warren knows it's an injustice, and he needs to do the right thing and set aside those verdicts,” Mr. Khalfani said.

Asked what he thought the odds were that Judge Warren would comply, he looked up at the blue sky and said “that it's going to snow at 12 noon today.”

The NAACP leader said his organization would file judicial complaints against Judge Warren and urge community members to persuade legislators not to reappoint Judge Warren.

Mr. Khalfani said that despite the racial tension, he did not expect violence outside the courthouse. Last July, the county's Board of Supervisors adopted a resolution condemning racial rhetoric arising from the shooting.

Just in case, Powhatan Sheriff Greg Neal said Virginia State Police and other agencies would be on hand to provide extra security.