I would assume he was offered some kind of plea deal and didn't take it. It's possible the DA didn't want to deal due to the previous case, as well as video evidence making it a slam dunk win. Agree (as I posted before) that the 4-10 years is a bit much. Seeing as no one was injured, 1 year in prison, 2-5 more years parole, and felony conviction resulting in loss of 2A rights probably would have sufficed.
I finally looked at the video. It seems to me that the man hesitated. He had a chance to fire immediately and did not, and when he did so you could not actually see where his shot went.
The kid looks completely harmless. He also looks like a young version of Denzel Washington.
I do not believe the man was trying to kill him, and I think the accusation of attempted murder is ridiculous. You are probably right about the plea deal. I can see the man thinking he wouldn't be convicted, but I can see he did not reckon with the emotional arguments that sway jurors.
Jurors are not always rational, and I can see them buying into all the accusations of attempted murder the prosecutor threw at them.
I think they made a point to make an example out of this guy, and I think he gambled wrong in not taking a plea deal of some sort.
I think from his perspective he didn't see himself as doing anything wrong at all, and certainly not sufficiently wrong to suffer the punishment they have given him. I think he thought he would win a trial, and then got the shock of his life when he didn't.
I think all his current contrition is an effort to plead for leniency in the future. He's now caught in the system, and that is a terrible place for anyone to be.
I have no personal experience with it myself (thank God) but I've known many who have. Prison wrecks a man's life, sometimes horribly.