SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (AP) - A southwest Missouri man has pleaded guilty to a lesser charge in the fatal shooting of his uncle in 2015.
The News-Leader (https://sgfnow.co/2oUA1iT ) reports that 31-year-old Preston Watts pleaded guilty last week to first-degree involuntary manslaughter in connection with the November 2015 killing of 38-year-old Jonathan L. McCrary in Springfield. Prosecutors agreed to drop the second-degree murder and armed criminal action charges against Watts in exchange for the plea.
Watts is scheduled to be sentenced at a hearing Aug. 16. He faces a maximum of seven years in prison.
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Prosecutors say they’ll seek prison time. Rodney Hackathorn, Watts’ attorney, says he’ll ask for probation.
Hackathorn says Watts was acting in self-defense when he shot and killed McCrary outside of a home on Nov. 2, 2015.
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Information from: Springfield News-Leader, https://www.news-leader.com
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