Pardoned by Gov. Barbour Then; Pleads Guilty to Manslaughter Now

OXFORD, Miss. (AP) – One of the ex-prisoners who received a pardon from then-Gov. Haley Barbour has pleaded guilty to manslaughter after he killed another man in an exchange of gunfire.

Calhoun County District Attorney Ben Creekmore says Wayne Thurman Harris of Slate Springs made the plea Monday in Oxford before special Circuit Judge Breland Hilburn.

Harris had faced more severe charges of depraved heart murder in the 2013 death of Chris McGonagill of Calhoun City.

Creekmore says Harris was sentenced to five years in prison, followed by a 15-year suspended sentence. He also was sentenced to five years of post-supervision release.

Authorities say Harris and McGonagill argued at a cookout and both fired guns. Both were wounded, McGonagill fatally.

Harris was pardoned by Barbour in 2012 after serving a sentence for selling marijuana.