[chris]

A 13-year-old Kentwood, Mich., boy who told 911 an intruder shot his mother's fiance pleaded guilty five months later to second-degree murder, becoming the youngest person convicted of murder in Kent County.

Jermelle Stokes, 35, was sitting at a counter working on a laptop when he was shot once in the back of the head at "relatively close range" about 6 p.m. on Jan. 25, 2010, Kentwood Police Chief Richard Mattice said at the time. Stokes was the only adult in the home, a duplex in the 5800 block of Pine Vista. Three of his children, ages 8 to 12, were inside.

The boy, Keishawn Mann, told dispatchers Stokes was dead and that he believed an intruder had killed him, WOOD TV reported. In the recording, he said he was in the basement, heard a shot, came upstairs to find Stokes shot, and told the dispatcher a handgun was lying nearby. Officers recovered two handguns from a closet and believed Stokes owned both, and that one was the weapon used, Mattice told The Grand Rapids Press. Police said they did not think the shooting was an accident. Mann's attorney, Kevin Floyd, said he believed it was.

Mann pleaded guilty in June 2010. Under the plea agreement, he stayed in juvenile court custody and went to the Muskegon River Youth Home instead of prison, with the question of an adult sentence deferred until his 21st birthday. At that point, Judge Daniel Zemaitis could either release him or sentence him as an adult for second-degree murder, which carried a penalty of up to life.

Mann later told a therapist that Stokes had abused his mother, had struck him and his three brothers with a paint stick and had choked him once, according to court records. Prosecutors and police said they found no evidence of abuse, and Stokes' relatives rejected the claim.

The dispute set off a scuffle at the Aug. 3, 2010, sentencing after Mann's mother, Lakeisha Mann, told the court her son may have had a reason to kill her fiance. A relative of Stokes shouted across the courtroom, both families began yelling, and deputies wrestled Mann's uncle to the floor and handcuffed him before leading him out. He was released without charges, and Mann was taken out of the courtroom until order returned about five minutes later. "I'm really sorry. I didn't mean for this to happen," Mann said before he was sentenced. "I just apologize."

Mann turned 21 on Dec. 6, 2017, and left custody a free man after a final review hearing at which Zemaitis ruled he was ready for release. Staff at the youth home described him as remorseful and as a leader who worked in the kitchen and took online courses at Mid Michigan Community College, and said he had written apology letters to Stokes' family and offered to meet them. Kent County Prosecutor Chris Becker said Mann had completed his rehabilitation program and was expected to do well. Because he was a legal adult, he was not released into anyone's custody.