Man Pleads Guilty, Apologizes To Family In 6-Year-Old's Shooting Death
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) – The man accused of shooting and killing a 6-year-old girl last summer in has pleaded guilty to third-degree murder.
Isis Allen was walking with her babysitter near a home on Zara Street in Knoxville when a man started shooting, which critically wounded her.
Today, Kamau Thomas, of Carrick, was sentenced to 15 to 40 years in prison.
Prosecutors say Thomas was targeting people who were at the home.
At Thomas' preliminary hearing last year, his attorney said he felt threatened.
"My client said that he saw a handgun sticking out of the waistband," said Attorney Blaine Jones. "That person kept tapping his waistband and looking at my client and then saying, 'I have something for you.'"
Thomas told police he fired two rounds, hoping to intimidate that person. He also said his gun malfunctioned.
But in all of the chaos, Isis was shot in the head.
She was rushed to Children's Hospital with a severe brain injury. After several days and little progress, her family made the difficult decision to take her off life support. At the time, they said they planned to donate her organs.
"I've never felt this much love in my life," said Isis' mother, Taquea Sykes last July. "That's what that little girl did to me. That's what she brought to everybody. She's the most loved kid on the South Side of Pittsburgh."
"Our family is different now. [It will] never be the same without her," said Theresa White, Isis' grandmother in August.
After Isis died, police filed a long list of charges against Thomas.
On Tuesday morning, he pleaded guilty to third degree murder and apologized to Isis' family.
"Mr. Thomas is, of course, devastated that a 6-year-old was shot and killed, as any of us would be," said Jones last summer.
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