ELLICOTT CITY, Md. (AP) — A Columbia man has been sentenced to 60 years in prison for the fatal stabbing of a fellow teenager in 2011.

Xavier Bates, 19, apologized to Christian Hall’s family at his sentencing Friday in Ellicott City.

Bates says he’s not a monster — just a young man who made a life-changing mistake.

Bates pleaded guilty in September to first-degree murder for stabbing the 17-year-old victim with a knife he allegedly stole from a local supermarket.

Police say Bates had accused Hall of disrespecting him and sucker-punching him while he was on his bicycle.

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