A man and his 16-year-old accomplice pleaded guilty to the 2016 attempted murder of a University of Georgia student.
Termedric Faust, a 32-year-old three-time convicted felon, and Christopher Akilnyay Burnett, who was 16 at the time of the incident, accepted their prison sentences on Thursday, the Athens Banner-Herald reported.
The two men took a plea deal after being accused of kidnapping, robbing and shooting 19-year-old Trey Collins as he delivered pizzas on Feb. 4, 2016.
Collins survived after being shot four times, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution previously reported.
“I went to the guy, and the next thing I knew he went to pull out money,” Collins previously told WTOC-TV in Savannah. “Instead he pulled out a gun and pointed it to my face, and I could feel another gun on the back of my head.”
The duo stole the pizzas, Collins’ cellphone and $80 in cash, then forced Collins into the trunk of his Chevrolet Impala, and started driving, according to the Athens Banner-Herald. Collins said he felt the car slow down after what felt like about 10 minutes.
“And they just decided to stop somewhere, turn around, and start opening fire into my backseat,” Collins told WTOC.
He was hit four times, but police said about 10 bullets pierced the backseat.
“Many of them landed inches away from me,” Collins told WTOC. “One bullet — the bullet that went through here — went through my arm, broke the bone, and then hit my rib, and my rib is bruised. So it hit it just hard enough to bruise it, but could [have] broken the skin and hit my heart. I was that close.”
Burnett was identified as a suspect based on the cellphone used to call in the order to Papa John’s, the Athens Banner-Herald reported.
Faust was sentenced to 25 years in prison without the possibility of parole plus five years on probation and Burnett was sentenced to 12 years in prison and 13 years on probation.
More serious charges were dismissed because a judge ruled Burnett’s statements about the incident had been coerced by police.
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