FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WOWO): A Fort Wayne man was sentenced to 20 years in prison for the killing of a man last August.

20-year-old Daquavion Johnson had pleaded guilty in june to voluntary manslaughter to avoid murder charges, saying the death of Leon-Dre Kyles-Thomas came in the “heat of the moment,” but suddenly tried to withdraw that plea during his sentencing hearing Friday. The News-Sentinel reports Judge John Surbeck denied that request, saying Johnson wouldn’t get to “exit at will.”

Police say Johnson shot Kyles-Thomas in the chest just after noon on August 13th last year, while Johnson was riding by on his bicycle. He claims he didn’t mean to shoot Kyles-Thomas, and was only returning fire, claiming he ws shot at first.

Johnson will serve 12 years in prison, with eight years suspended, and four of those eight years on probation.