Autumn Pasquale Murder Update: N.J. teen sentenced to 17 years in girl's strangling death
(CBS/AP) WOODBURY, N.J. - Justin Robinson, a southern New Jersey teenager who confessed to killing a young girl who disappeared while riding her bike last year, was sentenced to 17 years in prison Thursday.
PICTURES: Body of missing NJ girl found
The 16-year-old pleaded guilty in adult court last month to aggravated manslaughter, saying he alone strangled 12-year-old Autumn Pasquale last October.
"Autumn didn't die from a disease, in a car accident or a random shooting. She was murdered, literally at the hands of the defendant as he watched Autumn take her last breath," Autumn's mother, Jennifer Cornwell, told the courtroom during an impact statement Thursday, CBS Philly reports.
Robinson reportedly offered a short apology during his sentencing.
"I'm sorry. I never meant for this to happen," he told Judge Walter Marshall. "This was all a big mistake."
His mother also spoke Thursday and characterized Autumn's death as an accident.
Pasquale disappeared on Oct. 20 while riding her BMX bike in her neighborhood in Clayton, a town about 25 miles south of Philadelphia. She was allegedly lured into a house by Robinson who told her he wanted to trade bike parts. Police said he and his brother Dante killed the girl for her bike and dumped her body in a recycling bin near their home.
The two brothers were each charged with murder.
Authorities say that besides Justin Robinson's admission, they didn't have physical evidence that established whether one or both of the brothers strangled the girl. Charges against Dante Robinson, 17, are still pending in juvenile court.
Complete coverage of the Autumn Pasquale case on Crimesider
