CROWN POINT, Ind. (AP): A northwestern Indiana man has been sentenced to 58 years in prison for the shooting death of a friend he maintains he shot in self-defense.

A Lake County judge sentenced 19-year-old Aqueeli Walton on Friday for the July 2013 killing of 18-year-old Cameron Sanders of Hammond.

The Times of Northwest Indiana reports he plans to appeal his sentence.

Defense attorney John Cantrell had argued for a sentence of 45 years, noting that the Hammond man was 17 years old at the time of the shooting.

Lake County Criminal Judge Salvador Vasquez in November found Walton in contempt of court for his outburst after jurors found him guilty of murder in Sanders' killing.

During Friday's sentencing, Vasquez told Walton his “character is absolutely irresponsible at many levels.”