Man gets 12 years in killing outside high school

BELLEVILLE — A man who admits killing a teenager in a gang-related fight outside a basketball game at a southwestern Illinois high school in 2009 has been sentenced to 12 years in prison.

Twenty-one-year-old Reginald Coleman of Cahokia pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in May as part of a deal with St. Clair County prosecutors. He had earlier been charged with first-degree murder.

Authorities say Coleman shot and killed 17-year-old rival gang member LeShane Whitley outside a Cahokia High School girls' basketball game after being circled by eight gang members. Coleman was the only one with a gun.

The Belleville News-Democrat (http://bit.ly/poohFP ) reports that Coleman's attorney had sought a 10-year sentence. Prosecutors wanted double that.

He could be released from prison after serving another 3 1/2 years.