VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — Editor's note: The above video originally aired October 8, 2019.
A Virginia Beach man who pleaded guilty to a deadly 2019 shooting will spend the next 20 years behind bars, prosecutors said.
Ditron Laquay Thigpen, 29, was convicted of several charges surrounding the events of October 5, 2019. Authorities said that a large fight broke out between a group of young women on Atlantis Drive. 40-year-old Sherman Lane, who lived on Atlantis Drive, came outside his home to help break up the fight.
One of the women involved in the fight called Thigpen, who was her boyfriend, claiming Lane hit her during the fight. Thigpen went to Lane's apartment complex, broke in his apartment door, and then shot Lane as the victim was coming out of his bedroom.
Lane was pronounced dead at the scene. Thigpen was arrested a few days later.
According to the Commonwealth's Attorney for the City of Virginia Beach, Thigpen pleaded guilty to second-degree murder, two counts of the use of a firearm in the commission of a felony, burglary at nighttime with a deadly weapon and possession of a firearm by a non-violent felon.
As part of Thigpen's plea agreement, he was sentenced to 63 years in prison with 46 years suspended, leaving 17 years to serve. Thigpen also pleaded guilty to multiple parole violations which added an extra three years to serve, bringing his sentence to 20 years in prison, total.