FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WANE) — Korta Thomas, 24, was sentenced to 16 years in prison on Friday after his participation in a 2020 robbery turned shooting.

Thomas was initially charged with Felony Murder and Robbery related to the Dec. 2, 2020, killing of 24-year-old Hakeem O. Cage outside an apartment building in the Summit at Ridgewood Apartments complex.

According to court records, he accepted a deal from the Allen County Prosecutor where he pleaded guilty to the robbery charges. The murder charges were dropped.

In Dec. 2020, a woman told police she was walking up to an apartment with Cage when she heard footsteps running toward them, and then five gunshots. She then saw Cage fall, and the shooter went through his pockets and took a “large amount of money that he always carries with him” – more than $11,000 – and ran off, the affidavit detailed.

Cage was shot in the head by Javon Thomas, Korta’s cousin.

In 2020 the affidavit stated, Korta Thomas told police he heard Cage was killed “because of some money because he was flashy with his money.”

Korta’s arrest is in violation of his probation on an unrelated domestic battery conviction. That case is still under review.