Dwight DeLee, 20, of Syracuse, was sentenced Tuesday for the shooting death of Lateisha Green, a transgender individual with the birth name Moses Cannon. Our Joleene Des Rosiers tells us DeLee maintains his innocence and blames the media for convicting him before the jury ever did.

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Dwight DeLee, 20, was found guilty of manslaughter in the first degree as a hate crime. For that, he'll serve the maximum sentence of 25 years. He was also found guilty of criminal possession of a weapon. But DeLee says he was wrongly convicted and he blames the mass of cameras and reporters that have been at the trial from jump.

"I want everyone to hear instead of being blinded by the media and what you read in the paper," DeLee told the judge. "Because they tend to add their own little details to make the news and the paper more appealing to the readers and the listeners. So then people will already have their minds made up."

But prosecutor Matt Doran says the evidence and the witnesses gave the jury what they needed to convict DeLee.

"It's a tragic, senseless act of violence committed by Dwight DeLee," Doran said. "There was no good reason for it whatsoever. It was an unprovoked homicide and no amount of time can truly do justice for this, but I'm glad and I think the court did the right thing by imposing the maximum sentence today."

"I've been convicted and committed and acquitted by a jury of my peers. I'm confused as well as appalled by this injustice about to take place," DeLee also said.

For the family of Latehisa Green, DeLee's words are far from authentic.

"If it came from the heart, great," said her father, Albert Cannon. "But I don't believe it came from the heart. I believe he just sat down and wrote it trying to impress the judge. But it didn't impress me. The only justice we'll have is when every young person in this world can live like they want to live. Then there will be justice."

This case is the first hate crime conviction in New York involving a transgender victim. It's also the first hate crime prosecution in Onondaga County.