A little more than a year after he opened fire with an AK-47 at an Atlanta elementary school, 21-year-old Michael Brandon Hill was sentenced to 20 years in prison on Tuesday.

On August 20, 2013, Hill was arrestsed after he fired 500 rounds of ammunition from an assault rifle at the Ronald E. McNair Discovery Learning Academy during a standoff with the police that lasted for half an hour.

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All the children were evacuated from the school and none of them were injured during the incident.

According to his defense lawyer, Annie C. Deets, he entered the school with his weapon in an ill-conceived and misguided attempt to commit suicide.

Deets told the court that Hill knew that if he opened fire at the school, the children would be protected and that the police would come after him and shoot him. His plan was not thought out well, but his only intention was to kill himself on that day--not to harm any of the children.

Hill's defense also presented evidence of his previous failed suicide attempts, as well as his history of mental illnes and child abuse under his father and alcoholic mother. He had been in and out of state custody since he was seven years old.

Furthermore, Deets said that Hill consistently scored an I.Q. of only 60 or a bit higher in tests, and what he was really seeking on the day of the shooting was "a little bit of compassion and some help."

She attempted to plea for a lighter sentence of 10 years, however, Judge Mark Anthony Scott of the DeKalb County Superior Court, sided with the prosecution on giving Hill the more severe penalty of 20 years in prison.

At the trial, Hill rocked in his chair and showed no sign of remorse for his actions. However, he did previously ask Antoinette Tuff, the school bookkeeper who heroically convinced him to stand down and surrender to police, to apologize on his behalf.

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