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WILKES-BARRE — A teenager will spend up to 12 years behind bars for trying to kill a romantic rival.

Daniel Stephen Steadele Jr., 18, of Mountain Top, admitted to an attempted homicide charge Friday in Luzerne County Court and was immediately sentenced to six to 12 years in state prison, according to court papers. Three years special probation will follow his prison sentence.

Steadele also must make more than $2,000 restitution to state police.

Judge Michael T. Vough credited the man for 217 days time served, court papers say, and ordered Steadele transferred to State Correctional Institution Pine Grove to be placed into the prison’s Young Adult Offender Program.

An SCI Pine Grove web page describes the program as a “therapeutic community” which provides young offenders an “opportunity to mature in a nurturing environment.”

Steadele, 17 at the time of the offense, made a motion in June to decertify his charges to juvenile court, but court documents indicate he waived his right to a decertification hearing Friday, pleaded guilty and requested immediate sentencing.

According to a criminal complaint, state police responding to a reported shooting in Slocum Township just before 1 a.m. Dec. 24 found Dillon Gommer on the ground outside his grandmother’s house with gunshot wounds to his neck, torso and wrists.

Investigators at the scene recovered a .22-caliber pistol and a .30-.30-caliber bullet casing with the word “Dillon” written on it in black ink, police say.

Investigators say Steadele had issues with Gommer over a mutual romantic interest.

Gommer told police in an interview that while at his grandmother’s house, he heard a tapping noise coming from outside, police say. Each time he went outside to check on the noise, the tapping stopped.

Finally, his grandmother complained about the noise, Gommer told police, so he got dressed and went outside, bringing along a loaded handgun, the complaint says. As he approached a garage, he said the tapping grew louder.

As Gommer walked around a truck parked in the driveway, he told police, he heard a gunshot and fell to the ground in pain.

Police say in an interview with Steven Robert Tokach III, a friend of Steadele ’s, Tokach told investigators he spoke with Steadele on Christmas Eve, who allegedly reported shooting Gommer twice when he saw Gommer had a gun.

By James O’Malley

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Reach James O’Malley at 570-991-6390 or on Twitter @TL_omalley.