Former Alabama police officer pleads guilty to manslaughter in shooting death of suicidal man

HUNTSVILLE, Ala. (AP) — A former Huntsville police officer on Friday pleaded guilty to manslaughter for the 2018 shooting death of a man who was holding a flare gun to his own head.

William Darby entered a plea agreement to avoid a second trial on a murder charge in the shooting death of Jeffery Parker, news outlets reported. A jury initially convicted Darby of murder and sentenced him to 25 years in prison, but the conviction was overturned. He was set to go to trial again in December.

Madison County District Attorney Rob Broussard told WHNT-TV that the plea agreement happened after defense attorneys reached out to discuss a potential settlement. Darby, who served 20 months before his conviction was overturned, will not return to prison unless he violates the terms of his probation under his new sentence, news outlets reported.

“What he did was clearly unlawful, but it was never lost on us that what he did was during the course of his job, which is not an easy job,” Broussard told WHNT.

Darby shot Parker while responding to a call after the man phoned 911 saying he was armed and planned to kill himself.

Trial testimony indicated Darby shot Parker, who was sitting on a sofa holding a gun to his head, within seconds of entering the home. Another officer had been speaking with Parker, trying to convince him not to kill himself, when Darby entered. Video from Darby’s body camera showed Darby entered the home and told Parker three times to put the gun down before firing.

It would later be determined Parker was actually holding a flare gun that had been painted black, but there is no evidence indicating any of the officers were aware of that fact, according to an appellate court summary of the case.