LAKELAND, Fla. (AP) - A central Florida man who told detectives he was playing with a gun when he fatally shot someone has been sentenced to 15 years in prison.
As part of a deal with Polk County prosecutors, 23-year-old Derek Lavonte Scott pleaded guilty Friday to manslaughter with a firearm. He had been facing a second-degree murder charge.
Authorities say Scott had been watching a movie with several other people at a Lakeland home in 2010. He was moving the safety back on a 9mm Beretta pistol when he shot another man, Courtney Bomar, in the head.
Witnesses saw Scott wiping the gun off before running from the house. The Ledger reports that the gun was later found in some plants outside the house, and Scott was found an hour later several miles away.
