BALTIMORE, Feb. 3 (UPI) -- A Maryland circuit court judge said a 16-year-old boy will serve 20 years of a 50-year prison sentence for fatally stabbing a fellow teen in 2008.
Circuit Judge Wanda K. Heard suspended all but 20 years of the 50-year prison sentence given Timothy Oxendine for the stabbing death of 15-year-old Markel Williams in Baltimore, The Baltimore Sun reported Wednesday.
"You took something that you can't put back," Heard told Oxendine during Tuesday's sentencing.
Defense attorneys attempted to portray the deadly stabbing at William H. Lemmel Middle School as Oxendine defending himself against a bully, while Williams' family insisted the two teens were fighting over a girl.
As part of a plea deal with prosecutors, Oxendine pleaded guilty to first-degree murder charges last November.
The Sun said Heard also ordered Oxendine, who was 14 at the time of the stabbing, to return to her courtroom on a regular basis during the next five years for status updates and possible sentence modifications.
"I don't think that as a judge, your responsibility ends when you sentence someone," Heard said.
