TEEN GETS 10 YEARS IN PRISON FOR DRUG-RELATED MURDER NEAR WEST PALM

Timothy "TJ" Underwood was just 14 when he and two friends pumped one
round apiece into family acquaintance Richard "Bear" Roberts
following an all-night drug and alcohol binge at Underwood's mother's
home west of West Palm Beach.

Now 16, Underwood avoided a potential life sentence Tuesday by
pleading guilty to a lesser charge of second-degree murder in
connection with Roberts' killing.

Circuit Judge Lucy Chernow Brown sentenced him to 10 years in prison
followed by 10 years on probation. He was credited for 743 days
already served.

If all goes according to plan, Underwood will taste freedom several
years before his mother, Angela Morgan, who in January was sentenced
to 15 years for her role in the killing. Underwood is the fourth
person to plead guilty in the case, leaving a single remaining
defendant, Zachary Updike, 20.

Roberts, a friend of Morgan's live-in boyfriend Donald Faircloth, was
a known bully with a history of aggressive behavior, according to
testimony at Morgan's November trial. Morgan claimed Roberts
threatened her, her son and his friend the night of Feb. 8, 2004.

Underwood hit Roberts with a baseball bat, knocking him unconscious,
before Morgan, Faircloth, Underwood and Updike drove Roberts, who was
still alive, to Dryden Road and dropped him in the brush. Underwood,
Updike and Thomas Gamble later returned to the woods where each
pumped a single shot into Roberts.

Morgan, Faircloth and Gamble previously entered pleas in the case.
Updike is charged with first-degree murder.

Morgan, who had recently completed prison time for cocaine possession
at the time of the killing, partied, drank and did drugs with her son
and his friends, according to court testimony. Staples at the 2004
party included cocaine, Xanax and marijuana.

Underwood's attorney, Glenn Mitchell, said his client was a victim of
his environment. Faircloth was a drug dealer with at least 15 felony
convictions.

"Everybody believes [Underwood] never had a chance ...," Mitchell
said. Morgan's sister, Tammy Colon, agreed with Mitchell's assessment.

"Good luck, TJ," Colon yelled as deputies led her nephew from the
courtroom.

"He's a good kid with a childlike heart ... who was barely 14 when
this happened," she said.