Teen pleads guilty to involuntary manslaughter, gets 2 to 4 years in fatal shooting

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) - A 17-year-old will spend 2 to 4 years in prison after he pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter in the death of another teenager. 

Philip Payne pleaded guilty to one count of involuntary manslaughter and a firearms violation on Thursday in the death of 18-year-old Dontae McKenith. In exchange for the plea, the Allegheny County District Attorney's Office said it agreed to a sentence of two to four years in the state penitentiary. 

Police said McKenith was found shot in the chest at a home on Soles Street in McKeesport in July of 2021. 

According to the criminal complaint, a witness told police Payne unloaded a gun and handed it to someone else in the home. Police said the witness told investigators that later Payne and McKenith were joking around when Payne took out the gun, pointed the gun's laser at McKenith, then shot him.

Payne ran from the scene, but later turned himself in, police said.  

Take Action Mon Valley and McKenith's family rallied in March, saying the two to four years in Payne's plea deal wasn't a harsh enough sentence, citing race.