DECATUR - A 20-year-old Decatur man wept on the witness stand Thursday as he testified at his sentencing hearing about his close friendship with Michael A. Allen, 17, who he shot and killed Dec. 2 while playing with a revolver.

Deandre L. Browning pleaded guilty Aug. 29 to one count of aggravated battery with a firearm, a Class X felony, under a plea agreement with the Macon County State's Attorney's Office that fixed his sentencing range at 10 to 15 years in prison. The charge was reduced from first-degree murder which would have carried a prison term of 20 to 60 years upon conviction.

Browning was sentenced Thursday to 10 years in prison by Associate Judge Timothy Steadman, who praised Assistant State's Attorney Duane Deters and defense counsel Scott Rueter for arriving at a "reasonable disposition" in the tragic case.

Deters argued for the maximum agreed upon penalty of 15 years, calling Browning's testimony that he obtained the revolver from a man he did not know on a trip out of town a "fantastic" story. He said several witnesses to the shooting stated Browning pulled out the gun after he stated he was leaving town and Allen stated he would tell police that Browning was a drug dealer if he tried to leave.

Rueter suggested that 10 years was sufficient in the "horribly tragic situation."

"It's hard to say this is stupid," Rueter said. "It is more than that. Deandre knows he has to pay a price. He killed his best friend."

Rueter said Browning's testimony on Thursday showed he did not have a lot of common sense and probably a diminished ability to understand what he did.

Browning said he had been smoking marijuana for several hours at the time of the shooting. He said he did not buy the gun legally. When asked by Deters if he possessed a firearm owner's identification card, he responded, "What's that?"

The shooting occurred about 12:30 a.m. Dec. 2 in Allen's apartment in the 800 block of West Wood Street. Browning contended to police that he and Allen were playing Russian roulette when the shooting occurred.

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