Jaylen Prince, a teenager who was found guilty of shooting and killing a classmate inside a Maryland high school in 2024, was sentenced on Tuesday to life in prison with all but 75 years suspended.

He was sentenced to an additional five years for a handgun violation. Prince will be eligible for parole after serving roughly 40 years.

Prince, 17, was convicted of first-degree murder for the shooting death of 15-year-old Warren Grant at Joppatowne High School in Harford County on September 6, 2024.

In May, the jury found Prince guilty following about three hours of deliberations.

Police said Prince pulled out a gun from his backpack and shot Grant during a fight inside the bathroom at Joppatowne High School.

Prince didn’t show much emotion as the verdict was read. However, several members of the gallery were tearful, and so were members of the jury.

His trial lasted eight days, with testimony from classmates, law enforcement and Prince’s mother. Prince took the stand in his defense on May 28.

Prince told the jury that he did not intend to kill Grant, which was the argument from the defense.

Prince testified that Grant was the aggressor. He said that Grant came from behind and tried to start a fight over his girlfriend.

Prince told the court that he said to Grant, “My hand is broke. I ain’t fighting nobody,” referring to an injury that required emergency surgery months before the shooting.

He then told Grant, “If you touch me, I will kill you,” before he pulled a gun from his backpack to scare his classmates off.

Prince told the jury that Grant shook him, and the gun fired.

“I did not fire the gun. It accidentally went off,” Prince said during his testimony.

The state’s attorney argued that the video shared by a witness showed Prince to be the aggressor and that he threatened to kill Grant four times.

Witnesses testified that they saw Prince grab the gun from his backpack, cock the weapon and shoot Grant before running away and getting rid of the gun, which was never found.

Prince said he purchased the gun to protect himself because he “was afraid of a lot of places,” after losing at least five friends to gun violence.

An expert testified that Prince’s phone contained several photos of the gun, which matched the bullets recovered from Grant’s body.

WJZ is a media partner with The Banner.