MONTGOMERY, AL (WSFA) -
The 18-year-old man accused of hindering the hunt for Auburn shooting suspect Desmonte Leonard has been handed the maximum prison sentence for a different crime.
Jeremy Thomas, 18, was arrested in June 2011 for the shooting death of a 14-year-old girl.
Thomas was accused of shooting the girl once in the chest while she was
inside a home in the 3600 block of Castle Ridge Road. She died at a
Montgomery hospital a short time after the incident. A grand jury indicted Thomas on a manslaughter charge related to the crime.
After he was arrested for allegedly hindering prosecution related to the Auburn shooting case, attorneys successfully argued to have Thomas' bond revoked.
Thomas entered a guilty plea for that manslaughter charge. At his sentencing, held Thursday morning, family members of the girl spoke out against Thomas and his "evil heart." The grandmother even said at one point that he bragged about the cold case.
An attorney for Thomas called the shooting an "accident" however the state disputes that claim.
Thomas was given the maximum prison sentence of 20 years for this case and was ordered to pay $7,500 in restitution to the family - the amount it cost to bury the victim.
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