Teen sentenced for 2016 Christmas Eve shooting that injured man in Tacoma

A teenager charged as an adult for a shooting that wounded another man in Tacoma has been sentenced.

Nashawn Gordon Cotman, 17, pleaded guilty to attempted first-degree assault and unlawful gun possession earlier this year.

Pierce County Superior Court Judge Shelly Speir sentenced him on June 29 to six years behind bars. He also must earn his GED or high school diploma, according to the sentencing paperwork.

The shooting happened Dec. 24, 2016, at a home in the 4300 block of South Bell Street.

Police found a man with gunshot wounds to the arm and abdomen. A witness said Cotman shot the man after the two argued on the home's porch.

The wounded man told police he punched Cotman during the argument and Cotman shot him as he walked to his car, according to charging papers.

Cotman was arrested several months later, when police found him at an apartment complex.

His loved ones wrote the court that he had some poor examples set for him at home, but had thrived in school and behaviorally when he was younger and lived with relatives.

Those family members told Speir they have a stable home with positive role models waiting for Cotman when he's released.

Adults in charge of Cotman's education while his criminal case was pending also wrote the court, to say he'd been a mature, dedicated student while incarcerated.