10-Year Sentence For Teen Shot By Officer Angers State Attorney

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A teenager shot twice by a police officer during a home-invasion robbery last summer pleaded guilty Wednesday to robbery charges and was sentenced to 10 years in prison.

Jerry McTyre was 15 on July 25, 2008, when he was shot by an officer who said the teenager intentionally drove a stolen car toward the police responding to a robbery at the Palms Apartments on Beach Boulevard.

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The plea agreement, negotiated by a former top prosecutor shortly before he left office, angers new State Attorney Angela Corey, who said a police officer could have been killed and McTyre refused to identify two accomplices seen running from the car after the police-involved shooting.

McTyre recovered from the shooting and was charged with home-invasion robbery and possession of a short-barreled shotgun. The two who ran from the scene were never caught.

Inside the car officers found the shotgun, a loaded handgun and several items stolen from the apartment -- including computer equipment, a video-game system, TVs and cell phones.

"I've been upset ever since I found out about that case," Corey told Channel 4's Jim Piggott on Thusday.

Read Memo FromState Attorney Angela Corey's Chief Assistant

Jay Plotkin -- Corey's opponent in a hard-fought election for state attorney -- negotiated the plea deal.

"It is unconscionable that in a city with this much gun violence that Jay Plotkin himself would have brokered a deal without ever speaking to the victim, without ever speaking to the police officer who could have been killed in that situation," Corey said.

She said the sentence agreement was approved by a judge as she was sworn into office and challenging it now would likely end up in litigation.

Channel 4 asked Plotkin, who is now in private practice, about Corey's reaction.

"I think it's kind of counterproductive to discuss prior administrations," Plotkin said. "She is the state attorney and she should act as she sees fit. I don't see much purpose in getting involved in old political disputes at this point."

New Chief Assistant State Attorney Dan McCarthy sent out a memo to all prosecutors about the policies and procedures on how plea agreements have changed in Corey's administration. [Read the memo]

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