Teen charged with murder of Monessen football player accepts plea deal

GREENSBURG, Pa. (KDKA) – A teenager accused of shooting and killing a Monessen football player in 2022 has taken a plea deal.

This is announced by the Westmoreland County District Attorney's Office Terry Newton pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter and possession of a firearm by a minor.

Newton was 16 years old in November 2022 when police said he shot 16-year-old Amari Altomore in the chest on South 14th Street. Altomore died in the hospital. Newton was originally charged as an adult with criminal homicide.

The DA's office said the victim's family approved Newton's plea deal, which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.

After Altomore's death, the community expressed its condolences to the family. They gathered to remember Altomore as an outstanding soccer player who loved his mother.

“He was just a good little boy,” family friend Erica Gettemy said at the scene of the shooting in 2022. “He was a Monessen greyhound. He loved playing football. He was just a good guy. He was a good young man.” . He wasn't a troublemaker, he just cared about doing what he had to do for his mother.

No sentencing date has yet been set.