DULUTH — A 19-year-old Duluth man who fatally shot his childhood friend during a July 2022 argument in the Endion neighborhood was sentenced to more than 27 years in prison Tuesday in St. Louis County Court.

A jury found Corey Devon Young, 19, guilty of second-degree murder and possession of a pistol this past summer. He was first charged in juvenile court for killing Xzavier "Zane" Louis Aubid-St. Clair, 17, but was certified to stand trial as an adult.

According to court documents, witnesses said that Aubid-St. Clair went to Young's apartment to fight. Young came outside and had his hand in a cross-body pack slung across his chest and shoulder. After Aubid-St. Clair said Young's gun wasn't real, Young racked the slide and shot him in the face from about 10 feet away. The victim dropped to the sidewalk and was pronounced dead at a local hospital.

Young, who turned himself in, claimed self-defense.

"I felt threatened," Young reportedly told arresting officers. "He was saying I was a snitch and all that. I didn't know what to do."

In an obituary for Aubid-St. Clair, his family said they would miss his smile.