Man lunges at defendant during courtroom sentencing

KALAMAZOO (AP) - The uncle of a slain southwestern Michigan teen tried to attack a man being sentenced in the shooting death.

Willie Warren was giving a statement Monday in Kalamazoo County Circuit Court when he lunged at Bruce Embry, The Kalamazoo Gazette reported.

"He never cursed you. He never did nothing to you," Warren said before moving toward Embry, who was standing nearby.

Warren was restrained and tackled by deputies as Embry, 52, was rushed out a side door.

A shouting match followed in court between Embry's relatives and the teen's family.

Embry was convicted of first-degree murder in July in the January slaying of Temetrion Hegler, 17. The conviction carries a mandatory sentence of life in prison without parole.

Embry is married to Hegler's grandmother, Iquilla Hegler. Temetrion Hegler lived with them.

Iquilla Hegler has said Temetrion was shot after telling her he overheard Embry speaking by phone to another woman.

She said Monday that Warren and Temetrion were like brothers.

"I apologize for my son's actions, but then again I don't," Iquilla Hegler told reporters. "That was his little brother, and for this man to take his life, it hurt us. It devastated us. It left us in pieces."

Published: Wed, Aug 17, 2016