DELHI TOWNSHIP, Ohio — The manager of a Delhi Township vape shop who fired shots during a 2023 burglary attempt that left a 16-year-old dead and another burglary suspect injured will spend nearly a decade in prison.

A judge sentenced 29-year-old Tony Thacker to eight to nine years in prison for the shooting on Monday. A jury found Thacker guilty on August 12 of two counts of aggravated assault with a firearm.

Thacker faced a maximum sentence of up to 22 years, which prosecutors wanted the judge to impose, but instead he received the minimum sentence, although his lawyers said they still plan to appeal.

Before his sentencing, Thacker asked Judge Wende Cross for a lighter sentence.

“This was something that was thrown at me. I never asked for it. I just wanted to work and live my life,” Thacker said. “At the time, I did what I felt I had to do to protect myself and my girlfriend. I didn’t want to hurt anyone. This is something I live with every day and I will continue to do it every day.”

He was never charged with anything in connection with the death of 16-year-old Travis Johnson, but he was charged with wounding one of the burglary suspects as they attempted to flee in a car.

“All of the people who were in the store were already outside and driving away at that point,” said Mary Polston, assistant district attorney.

Polston argued against self-defense, saying Thacker was no longer in danger after the burglary suspects retreated.

According to Hamilton County District Attorney Melissa Powers, Thacker was living in the back room of a VIP Smoke Shop in Delhi when several suspects, many of whom were also arrested for the fatal burglary attempt, attempted to break into the store around 1 a.m. on October 20, 2023.

Powers said Thacker came to the front entrance of the store with a gun after the burglary suspects smashed the store’s windows to get inside. He was charged with continuing to shoot after the threat passed.

“Thacker brought a firearm to the front of the store and immediately began shooting at the would-be burglars,” Powers said. “Instead of stopping the use of deadly force after the situation was resolved, Thacker continued to shoot at the fleeing subjects even as they drove away, hitting one of them in the car.”

The person who was shot in the car was 19-year-old Amontae Carter, who was also later arrested. Carter was eventually charged with two counts of murder, two counts of burglary and possession of instruments of crime.

In addition to Carter, police also arrested 18-year-old Messiah Hart for burglary and murder. Also arrested and charged were a 15-year-old, a 16-year-old and a 17-year-old, all of whom were charged with murder and burglary.

“This doesn’t make sense to me. My concern is that the verdict is inconsistent. The jury concluded that he acted in self-defense, and they were unable to disprove that with two other victims. All of this happened literally within seconds of each other,” said Richard Goldberg, Thacker’s attorney.

Thacker’s attorney told WCPO in December that Thacker was the victim in this case and that he shot in self-defense. On Monday, Goldberg asked Judge Cross to review Thacker’s condition, saying that in addition to being shot at in the store a month before this case, he had also been stabbed in his home.

“There is only one person who was in his shoes that night, and that was Tony Thacker, of course, and no member of the jury or anyone else in this courtroom could put themselves in his shoes,” Goldberg said.

Goldberg said Thacker remained in the store during the shooting. Goldberg also said Thacker has been the victim of several burglaries in the past. A month before the October incident, Thacker was robbed by other masked assailants in the store, according to Goldberg.