Incarcerated rapper G. Dep has no regrets about turning himself in to police for a fatal 1993 shooting, insisting he was "happy" to finally face punishment for his actions.

Sean 'Diddy' Combs' former protege, real name Trevell Coleman, walked into a police station in December, 2010 and confessed to gunning down John Henkel during a robbery in East Harlem, New York, when he was a teenager.

He was convicted and sentenced to 15 years-to-life behind bars in May (12), and the rapper admits he was relieved for justice to be served - even though he could have easily taken the shooting secret to his grave.

Speaking from Elmira Correctional Facility, he tells New York Magazine, "I was happy. It sounds crazy to say you were happy about getting a 15-to-life sentence, but I was. It just seemed to me like the end of a nightmare."

G. Dep will not be eligible for parole until the end of 2025, after his 51st birthday, and while he realises his confession can never do anything to bring Henkel back, he still believes it was the right thing to do.

He says, "I can't measure how much it makes anything any better but I just know what I had to do."