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CROWN POINT — James Lee Taylor was sentenced Friday to 30 years prison for the shooting death of Alex Lenore four years ago in East Chicago.

Taylor, 28, of East Chicago, apologized to Lenore's family, though he knew it meant little.

“I let my anger get the best of me,” he said. “Instead of using my head.”

Taylor pleaded guilty Nov. 29 to voluntary manslaughter, admitting he shot Lenore in a “sudden heat,” or because of an intense emotion that clouded his judgment.

Lenore, 21, was killed the night of April 24, 2013, in an alleyway behind his grandmother's home in the 4900 block of Baring Avenue in East Chicago, according to court records.

He was found bleeding to death by his grandmother, Evelyn Lenore.

Lenore said she raised her grandson since he was a baby.

“He's not forgotten,” she said.

She decried Taylor for coming to her home after her grandson's killing, and attending his funeral.

“You are not God,” she said. “You don't walk on water. You don't give life, and you don't have the right to take it.”

Taylor's prison sentence was agreed upon in his plea deal with prosecutors, who dismissed other charges against Taylor, including murder.

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