A street shooting that nearly killed a 2-year-old boy this summer came to a sudden final chapter Tuesday, when 16-year-old Larry Washington pleaded guilty and accepted a six-year prison sentence.

        The Price Hill teen had faced up to 27 1/2 years in adult prison in a case that shocked Cincinnati at the height of unrelenting street violence last summer.

        Mr. Washington turned 16 five days after wildly firing a gun during a July 20 shootout on Vine Street in Over-the-Rhine that seriously injured Devonte Williams.

        Moments before the plea agreement was finalized in Hamilton County Common Pleas Court, Devonte's mother, Carmaleetta Ross, slipped into the last row of seats.

        “I just wanted him to get enough time to think, think about what he did,” Ms. Ross said. “(Devonte) is back to his old 2-year-old self. It's a relief to be over, but we're still dealing with the nightmares.”

        Defense attorney Bernard Wong said of Ms. Ross: “She showed so much forgiveness, and that's a virtue we forget about.”

        The bullet that struck Devonte came within a half-inch of a vital artery near his liver. His 6-year-old brother, who witnessed the shooting, came to court Tuesday with his mother.

        Mr. Washington, in drab-blue prison clothes, stood quietly with his head down before Judge David Davis and took responsibility for the shooting. His family feared a much longer prison term.

        Mr. Washington admitted guilt in two counts of felonious assault and one each of inducing panic and having a weapon under disability.

        “I can't see him doing six years, but he had no choice,” his mother, Joyce Ginyard of Pleasant Ridge, said. “He said he's ready to go, get settled in, and start school again.”

        Her eyes teared up as she left the courtroom.

        Mr. Washington has been convicted 17 times in juvenile court, which Judge Thomas Lipps cited in binding over the then-attempted-murder case to adult court.

        Moments before the shooting, Mr. Washington was being chased by 24-year-old Dominick Mitchem, who was convicted earlier this month based in part on Mr. Washington's testimony. Mr. Mitchem was sentenced to eight years in prison.

        Judge Davis also noted the teen's criminal history and troubled family life, but told Mr. Washington, “When you think about it, it's no excuse that you had a rough life.”

        But he quickly added, “You seem like a good person and it's too much of a good life to throw away. ... You're fairly intelligent, I can tell.”

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