Jeremy Thomas, 18, was sentenced to the maximum of 20 years in prison Thursday, July 12, for the manslaughter of 14-year-old Takira Gaston of Montgomery in June 2011.
Thomas was a possible witness for the defense of Desmonte Leonard, the alleged shooter in the University Heights tragedy.
Leonard's attorney Susan James had asked for Thomas to be brought to the Lee County Justice Center from Montgomery, however she elected not to call him to the stand in Leonard's preliminary trial on Wednesday June 11.
Thomas had been originally charged with murder after he shot the Montgomery teenager in the chest, but was indicted on manslaughter charges after claiming it was an accident.
A week before his trial, he was arrested on June 11 and charged with first-degree hindering the prosecution for his alleged involvement in helping Leonard evade authorities.
Thomas was also purportedly on the scene when the fight broke out at University Heights that culminated in three deaths and the injury of three others.
On June 13, four days after the shooting, Thomas pleaded guilty to the manslaughter charges leading to his sentencing by Circuit Court Judge Eugene Reese.
Thomas's defense attorney Wallace Mills said that the sentencing was a straight one and does not include probation.
Leonard, a Montgomery resident and the suspected gunman in the June 9 shooting at University Heights apartment complex, allegedly killed Auburn resident Demario Pitts and former Auburn football players Ladarious Phillips and Ed Christian.
Leonard turned himself in to the U.S. Marshals Tuesday, June 12, after his attorney Susan James arranged a deal that he would be taken in peacefully and without media coverage, James said in an interview with WSFA Montgomery.
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