The 16-year-old Texas school shooting suspect, who was 15 at the time of the shooting, confessed to being the shooter and allowed a jury to determine his sentence.

A teen who fatally shot one person and wounded another outside Lamar High School in March was sentenced on Thursday to 40 years in prison.

District Judge Alex Kim read the jury's unanimous punishment Thursday afternoon, telling the now-convicted 16-year-old he'd been sentenced to 40 years behind bars.

The teen, who is not being named because he is a minor, faced a sentence between probation and up to 40 years in prison for the shooting death of Ja’Shawn Poirer - the most allowed under Texas law for a minor not tried as an adult.

Kim said the juvenile must serve a minimum period of confinement and that he cannot be paroled by the Texas Juvenile Justice Department for 10 years. However, Kim said after the sentence was read Thursday that a hearing will be held on the juvenile's 19th birthday, in roughly three years, to determine if he will be turned over to the Texas Department of Criminal Justice to continue serving his sentence or if he'd be given probation with conditions and returned to society.

If he's sent to the TDCJ to continue serving his time, he'd have to serve half of his sentence before again being considered for parole.

In lobbying Thursday for the maximum sentence, Assistant District Attorney Llody Whelchel asked the jury to send a message about being accountable for gun violence.

“How many school shootings do we have to have for us to get a clue? Send a message to the community that there is accountability for this kind of behavior," Whelchel told the jury. "He needs to be held accountable so we know we will be safe from him for the next 40 years.