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Man Sentenced In Teen Slaying Says He's 'Not The Devil'

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PITTSBURGH (AP) - A man sentenced to prison in the shooting death of a Pennsylvania teenager during a gun sale has apologized to the family but says he's "not the devil."

Twenty-year-old Deonte Howell pleaded guilty in May to third-degree murder in the March 2015 shooting death of 16-year-old Justin Clark of Penn Hills.

Allegheny County prosecutors said he and 21-year-old Darnell Burks planned to rob the teen before Burks shot him in a Monroeville parking lot. Burks is serving a 14- to 28-year term.

Howell told the teenager's mother Tuesday that he hadn't known what was going to happen. He said "I'm not evil. I'm not the devil. I don't possess that energy."

Clark's mother asked him why he didn't call 911. She asked "How did you continue to sleep or eat?"

(© Copyright 2017 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

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