CROWN POINT | Jimmie Tyler, 17, was sentenced Monday to 30 years in prison for the 2006 shooting death of his mentally disabled "brother," 27-year-old Jermaine Martin.

Although they were not related by blood, Martin's mother, Kathryn McLin, said Tyler and her son were like "two peas in a pod."

"Everywhere Jermaine went, Jimmie was there," she told Lake Criminal Court Judge Diane Ross Boswell.

Tyler pleaded guilty in April to voluntary manslaughter for Martin's death.

The Gary teen was waived to adult court last year and charged with murder, court records show. Lake County prosecutors dropped the more serious murder charge in return for Tyler's guilty plea.

Tyler was quiet throughout his sentencing Monday.

When offered the opportunity to speak, he turned to McLin and said simply, "I'm sorry for everything I put ya'll through."

Tyler's brother, Anthony Smith, said Martin was like family, living with the family on and off for about five years before the shooting.

"We were all like brothers basically," Smith said.

Tyler and his mother, Arlene Ambrose, argued with Martin about money they thought he owed them for a car accident Martin got in while using Ambrose's car, court records state. When he refused to pay, Ambrose and Tyler went to their home, where Tyler grabbed a rifle, court records state.

The mother and son went out driving again and confronted Martin. Tyler shot Martin as Martin was running across the street to his front yard, authorities say.

Ambrose then drove her son and another juvenile away from the scene, court records say.

Ambrose was sentenced in May to seven years in prison for a felony charge of dangerous control of a child, court records show. She was originally charged with murder, but she pleaded guilty to the lesser felony charge after she agreed to testify against her son.

Defense attorney Roseanne Ivanovich said Ambrose was a manipulator, using her son to handle confrontations for her.

Ambrose pulled a tire iron out of the truck to threaten Martin, but it was too small, Ivanovich said.

She said the family was struggling financially, and had its utilities turned off.

Trial supervisor Angela Brown said Tyler had a history of problems at school and pleaded guilty to a battery charge in Juvenile Court. His probation ended two months before Martin's death, she said.

"No one told him to do anything, like shoot and kill Jermaine Martin," she said.