A Queens teen got a tounge-lashing - and 22 years in jail - Monday for shooting a man who tried to defend his pregnant wife in an armed robbery.

"This was an act of cowardice and barbarism which resulted in truly horrific consequences," Queens Supreme Court Judge Richard Buchter told 18-year-old Ronald King. "Mr. King deserves no mercy from this court."

Victim Edwin Pizarro, of Maspeth, survived the Oct. 20, 2006 shooting with a single bullet permanently lodged in his head, he said.

Pizarro and his wife Diane were walking in their neighborhood around 10 p.m. when King and two accomplices held them up at gunpoint and demanded cash, credit cards and a cellphone, prosecutors said.

Not satisfied with their take, King cocked his trigger and ordered Pizarro to step away from his pregnant wife, prosecutors said. Pizzaro pounced on the gunman - and was shot in the struggle, prosecutors said.

Pizarro was left with numbness in his left arm and memory and speech loss, but he stared down his attacker in court. His wife was too traumatized to come, he said.

"I knew that justice was on our side," Pizarro said, holding his year-old son close after the sentencing.

"I'm very happy," he added, crediting prosecutor Christine Siscaretti's work on the case.
King was convicted of attempted murder, assault, robbery and criminal possession of a weapon.

He insisted he had nothing to do with the attack. His accomplices were not found.
"I really didn't do this," King said.

Since the shooting, King has been convicted of fighting in Rikers jail, and also pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor weapons posession charge for getting caught with a boxcutter shortly before the 2006 attack, Siscaretti said.

Pizarro said he was infuriated to see his attacker again. He hoped one day King would accept responsibility for his actions.

"One day he will grow up and realize a man's character is about honesty," Pizarro said.