A man convicted in the shooting death of his wife will soon be sentenced.

In a Barrie court on Monday, Mitchell Brooks took the stand and called his wife’s death unacceptable and apologized for the pain he has caused.

"Not a day goes by that all the responsibility for Deena's death doesn't weigh me down", he said.

A jury found Brooks guilty of manslaughter for shooting Deena Brooks to death during a struggle over a handgun.

Brooks testified he never intended to kill her and that he suffered from depression and wanted to commit suicide after Deena told him she wanted a divorce. 

"I’ll never ask for or expect forgiveness for what happened, “Brooks told the court. “It's something I feel that is, in my eyes, unforgiveable."

The minimum prison sentence in this case would be four years.

The Crown wants Brooks to spend up to eight years behind bars, calling his suicide attempt "an emotional power play" to keep Deena in the relationship and arguing that all of his actions before the gun was fired were deliberate.

The defence thinks the three years Brooks has already spent in jail is enough and that he should be released, arguing that the judge should consider Deena's death an accident.

“Things happened very quickly and Mr. Brooks had suffered from a great depression and that affected his ability to appreciate the risk in what he was doing that night,” says lawyer Kimberley Miles.

Victim impact statements were also read to the court.

"Every time someone asks about my parents I either have to lie or explain the situation, which leaves me an emotional mess" said daughter Cayley Brooks, who added that she also has nightmares often of her father out of jail acting as if nothing had happened.

Kristin Brooks said, “I want to have my dad back. I will always think what happened to my mom was an accident."

The defence also pointed out that Brooks offered to plead guilty to manslaughter before his trial, something the Crown dismissed as pre-trial discussions.

The judge will review the lawyers’ submissions and sentence Brooks on June 29.