SENTENCED: One of three charged in attempted robbery turned fatal shooting of Aurelius Williams

MILWAUKEE COUNTY (WITI) -- A 19-year-old Milwaukee man charged in connection with a fatal shooting that occurred in March 2014 near 37th and Lancaster has been sentenced.

Deante Burns

Deante Burns was initially charged with felony murder and attempted armed robbery with use of force, as party to a crime. That felony murder charge was amended to a first degree reckless homicide (use of a dangerous weapon) charge.

Burns was found guilty of both charges following a jury trial.

In court on Tuesday, February 10th, Burns was sentenced to 40 years in prison and 15 years of extended supervision on the first degree reckless homicide charge, and five years in prison and five years of extended supervision on the attempted armed robbery charge.

Those sentences are to be served consecutively, so Burns will serve a total of 45 years in prison, and a total of 20 years of extended supervision.

Burns has been ordered to have no contact with the victim's family, and he'll pay over $7,000 in restitution to that family.

Burns was charged in the shooting death of 18-year-old Aurelius Williams. The shooting occurred back on March 30th, 2014 near 37th and Lancaster.

Aurelius Williams was found lying face down in the street after suffering a single gunshot wound to his upper right back. Life-saving measures were unsuccessful, and Williams was pronounced dead at the scene.

Police talked with a neighbor, who reported hearing a gunshot and then seeing three males enter a vehicle. That neighbor was able to provide police with a license plate number -- and police were able to obtain surveillance footage from a residence in the area.

A criminal complaint filed against Burns says police learned that the vehicle in question was registered to the girlfriend of a man named Michael Burks. They went to a residence associated with Burks' girlfriend, and Burks was arrested. Burks was questioned by police, and he admitted that he was driving said vehicle on the date of the shooting.

Burks told police he was with Deante Burns, Demetrius Taylor and another person, according to the complaint. Burks told police they were driving around when Taylor, Burns and the third individual began to discuss doing a robbery. Burns had a semi-automatic handgun, Burks told police.

When they found the targets for their robbery, Burks drove the vehicle into an alleyway and Taylor, Burns and the other individual exited the vehicle. They returned a short time later, and Burks drove away -- the complaint says.

They had to drive back to the area a short time later because Burns had tossed the handgun after the shooting, the complaint says. They were able to recover that handgun.

Burks told police Burns told everyone in the vehicle that he had just shot one of the males they had been trying to rob. They were apparently unable to get any money from the victims during the attempted robbery, police say.

An associate of Deante Burns told police Burns admitted to him that he had shot someone during an attempted robbery. Another associate of Burns told police Burns told him Taylor had been arrested in this case, and hadn't told police that he (Burns) was the individual responsible for the homicide, according to the complaint.

20-year-old Demetrius Taylor faces a felony murder charge in this case. His jury trial is set to begin on March 16th.

30-year-old Michael Burks faces a felony charge of attempted armed robbery with use of force as party to a crime. He has pleaded guilty to that charge, and he'll be sentenced on February 27th.