A 22-year-old North Carolina man will serve more than five years in prison after pleading guilty to voluntary manslaughter in a fatal 2024 shooting, court records show.
William Campbell, 22, of North Carolina, was sentenced in the shooting death of 20-year-old Alex Bennett, records show.
Campbell had originally been indicted by a grand jury for second-degree murder, prosecutors said. But that charge never made it before a jury.
On September 15, Campbell pleaded guilty to felony voluntary manslaughter, according to court records.
Judge Jacqueline Grant sentenced him to serve 63 to 88 months in prison, records show. The term requires the 22-year-old to serve five years and three months to seven years and four months behind bars.
Prosecutors agreed to reduce the second-degree murder case to voluntary manslaughter under a plea agreement, court records show.
An assault-with-a-deadly-weapon charge was consolidated into the manslaughter conviction, according to court records.
What happened immediately before the gunfire took place was a major issue in the case, records show.
Campbell went to the Ashley Meadow Apartments to sell $20 worth of marijuana, his defense attorney said.
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Campbell was assaulted during an attempted robbery at the complex, the defense said.
The 22-year-old suffered head injuries before pulling his gun and firing approximately six times, his attorney said.
Four shots struck Bennett, including the fatal shot to his chest, according to the defense account.
Those circumstances should have been examined at trial rather than resolved through a plea agreement, Bennett’s family said.
Bennett’s parents wanted prosecutors to proceed with the second-degree murder charge, his family said.
Relatives had previously been led to believe the family would be consulted before a final plea decision was made, his parents claimed. Instead, they were notified just days before the hearing that the plea was going forward, the family said.
Campbell addressed the victim’s relatives during sentencing, saying, “I hope they find it in my heart to forgive me.” For Bennett’s family, however, the plea did not bring the closure Campbell’s attorney described.
Campbell was being robbed and assaulted when he opened fire, his attorney maintained.
A jury should have been allowed to weigh all of the evidence, Bennett’s family said.
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