For his role in the deadly shooting of Ellis Wayne Souders at Whiskey River Pub, Shannon Ward was sentenced Monday to 40 years in prison.

Ward, 45, of Elizabethtown, was sentenced in Warren Circuit Court on charges of murder and first-degree wanton endangerment.

Souders, 42, of Bowling Green, was shot once in the head in the early morning hours of Sept. 5, 2020, at the bar on River Street.

Witnesses at the bar tackled and disarmed Ward in the immediate aftermath, and Ward was arrested by the Bowling Green Police Department.

The slaying was captured on the bar’s surveillance camera system.

Warren Circuit Judge Steve Wilson imposed a 35-year sentence on the murder count and a five-year prison term for the charge of first-degree wanton endangerment, ordering Ward to serve the sentences consecutively.

Ward pleaded guilty earlier this year to the charges against him and elected to have a sentencing trial before Wilson.

A total of 16 witnesses testified at the trial last month, and footage of the homicide was played at the trial as well.

Warren County Commonwealth’s Attorney Chris Cohron and Ward’s attorney, Alyson McDavitt of the Department of Public Advocacy, filed briefs after the trial arguing their respective positions on Ward’s sentence.

At Monday’s sentencing, McDavitt responded to a letter from a relative of Souders filed into the record that stated that Ward did not appear remorseful for his actions.

“Throughout the time I have represented (Ward), he has been remorseful,” McDavitt said, going on to address Ward’s testimony at his trial. “He doesn’t know to say what needs to be said, because there was nothing he could say that could make things better.”

When he took the witness stand last month, Ward testified that he did not have the words to express how he felt about what happened at the bar.

“There’s nothing that I can say that wouldn’t be hollow,” Ward said in November. “If I had a moment in time I could take back, it would be that.”

Ward did not address the court Monday.

Cohron argued that any sentence mandated by the court should come with a significant period of supervised release should Ward be granted parole.

“I think it’s quite clear that Mr. Ward will need to be under some sort of supervision by the state,” Cohron said.

Prosecution witnesses at the trial testified that Souders was a regular at the bar who worked to keep the peace among patrons and helped new employees learn the job.

Souders was described as a friendly, outgoing person who had the nickname “Sweet Tooth.”

On the night of the incident, Souders was attempting to defuse tensions between Ward and other patrons, witnesses said.

Video footage shows Souders walking with Ward to the bar to buy him a drink moments before the shooting.

Before pronouncing his sentence, Wilson expressed sympathy for Souders’ relatives attending Monday’s hearing.

“There’s no sentence I give that’s going to be satisfactory to bring back your brother, who was obviously a loving, caring man,” Wilson said. “He was trying to make a situation better that was deteriorating … .This may not be satisfactory to anybody, but I’ve tried to work things through to account for a young man who by every bit of testimony was just a wonderful young man, and I believe that he’s now at peace because he had a big heart.”

Wilson said he was impressed by the testimony of two expert witnesses who evaluated Ward as the case was pending.

Psychologist Dr. John Mundt, retained by Ward’s legal team, testified that Ward exhibited all known symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder, having received a diagnosis after his time in the National Guard but prior to his enlisting in the Army.

Ward served multiple combat tours in Iraq and Afghanistan while in the military, and Mundt testified that Ward tended to display “hypervigilance” in most situations due to his PTSD diagnosis.

Dr. Timothy Allen, a psychiatrist who performed a court-ordered evaluation of Ward, testified that Ward’s medical records suggested he suffered a traumatic brain injury, but showed no permanent effects from the injury.

Wilson said he believed Ward’s PTSD contributed to his intoxication the night of the shooting.