Teah Wimberly sentenced to 25 years

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (WSVN) -- A high school student convicted of killing her classmate on campus will serve 25 years in jail.

On Friday, Teah Wimberly actually took the stand for the first time. Her defense team wanted to take yet another shot at helping the teen get a lesser sentence for the shooting death of her friend, Amanda Collette.

Wimberly read a statement and addressed the parents of Collette. "The focus should be on your feelings and thoughts and how this makes you feel because you're a victim as well," she said. "You're a kind loving mother, who raised an amazing daughter, who didn't deserve any of this, and I hope that one day you, her father and her little brothers can find it in your hearts to please forgive me."

Collette had allegedly refused Wimberly's romantic advances, which drove Wimberly into a rage before she shot her in the back on Nov. 12, 2008, on Dillard High School grounds. They were both 15 at the time.

During the first trial, before jurors convicted her of second degree murder, Wimberly's attorneys argued the teenager suffered from a bipolar disorder and post traumatic stress disorder due to several instances of sexual abuse at a very young age. They argued Wimberly was temporarily insane when she pulled the trigger on her friend.

Dr. Trudy Block-Garfield, a forensic psychologist, took the stand at the Broward County Courthouse on Friday to testify for the defense's case. She said repeated incidents of sexual abuse left Wimberly with deep psychological scars. "The incident occurred between the age of 4 and 5, then it was somewhere between 5 and 6 by someone else, 11 and 12 by another person, and then around the age of 12."

The prosecution argued that Wimberly is a threat to the community and that is why they had sought the maximum sentence.

The mother of Collette, Amanda Collette, left the courthouse without comment. The defense team has already begun to work on the appeals process.

(Copyright 2010 by Sunbeam Television Corp. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)