Spartanburg defense attorney Edward Lamb said an April 5, 2005 fatal shooting was a case of Clevon Phillips defending himself.

Circuit Court Judge Brooks P. Goldsmith Jr. sentenced Phillips, 23, of 201 Granite Drive, Gaffney, to 10 years in prison. Phillips must serve 85 percent of that sentence and must also pay $4,000 to cover the cost of the funeral of 20-yearold Tamerio Bashan Littlejohn of 202 Jolly Drive, Gaffney.

Phillips pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter Monday in a negotiated plea agreement with the Seventh Circuit Solicitor's Office. He had originally been charged with murder.

Littlejohn was pronounced dead at Spartanburg Regional Medical Center after police found him lying in the road near 502 W. Robinson St. with a gunshot wound to the abdomen.

Assistant Seventh Circuit Solicitor Abel Gray said Phillips and Littlejohn had agreed to commit an armed robbery, but said Phillips failed to follow through on his half of the agreement.

On the day of the shooting, Littlejohn had been released on bond after being charged with strongarm robbery on March 28, 2005. In an incident report on file at the Gaffney Police Department, Littlejohn was accused of threatening a 16-year-old boy's life with a semi-automatic handgun and of stealing more than $2,000 from the boy.

After he was released from jail, Littlejohn went looking for Phillips and found him as he was leaving a party on West Robinson Street, Gray said. The two began fighting and Phillips shot Littlejohn, the prosecutor said.

"I'm sorry it happened, but I can't take it back now," Phillips told the court.

Lamb said Phillips was defending himself because Phillips knew Littlejohn had a reputation for being violent.

"Voluntary manslaughter was the right resolution," Gray said. "It was not a coldblooded murder. It was a fight that unfortunately ended in Littlejohn's death."