A Fort Payne man was sentenced to 2 1/2 years in prison Monday after pleading guilty to manslaughter in the 2021 shooting death of another man outside restaurants in Guntersville.

Wesley Abernathy, 30, of Forth Payne, was initially charged with murder in the fatal March 2021 shooting of 28-year-old Albertville resident Joseph Duane Alita.

But Abernathy pleaded guilty Monday to the lesser charge of manslaughter, according to Marshall County Circuit Court records.

Marshall County Circuit Court Judge Tim Riley sentenced Abernathy to 2 1/2 years in state prison followed by four years of probation, records showed.

Guntersville police officers responded to reports of a fight outside two restaurants along U.S. 431. on March 6, 2021.

Officers found Alita shot multiple times in a parking lot.

The Albertville man was taken to a hospital where he later died.