Teenager appeals prison sentence after fatal shooting of classmate

A Monessen teenager sentenced in 2022 for killing a 16-year-old classmate claimed in an appeal filed Monday that a Westmoreland County judge abused his discretion when he imposed a maximum sentence of 25 years in prison.

Terry Newton, 18, was sentenced in July to a minimum of eight years in prison. The defendant was responsible for the shooting death of Amari Altomore on November 29, 2022. Altomore died after being shot once in the stomach during an altercation that occurred as the teens were playing video games in the bedroom of Newton's South 14th Street home.

Newton pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of manslaughter in April.

“The court's ruling … was itself an abuse of discretion because the court gave undue weight to the nature of the crime, the death of another child in a shooting, and the impact it had on the victim's family…” defense attorney Ken Noga wrote in his appeal of the ruling.

Noga said Westmoreland County District Court Judge Scott Mears mistakenly considered those factors in addition to state guidelines, which already included sentencing criteria based on the nature of the crime and the impact on the victim.

The judge failed to take into account mitigating circumstances, such as Newton's age at the time of the shooting, various difficulties in his childhood and the impact of the crime on the defendant, Noga said.

After a sentencing hearing last month, the judge sentenced Newton to 7 1/2 to 20 years in prison for manslaughter, followed by a six-month to five-year sentence for illegal possession of a firearm. Newton was originally charged with first-degree murder and would face at least 30 years in prison if convicted.

Prosecutors said Newton was 16 at the time of the shooting. He turned 18 earlier this month and was charged as an adult.

According to court documents, Newton claimed that Altomore, an 11th-grader at Monessen High School and a member of the school's football team, initially pulled out a gun and it accidentally discharged as the teens struggled over the weapon.

According to police, Newton fled the scene and was on the run for three weeks before he was arrested and charged with Altomore's murder.

The weapon used in the shooting was never found.