A Decatur man has been convicted in the shooting death of another man outside a Birmingham fast-food restaurant.

Matlando Lee West, 31, was initially charged with capital murder and facing a potential death penalty in the 2019 killing of 44-year-old Charles L. Brown.

The deadly shooting happened Oct. 14, 2019, outside Burger King on Third Avenue West and Princeton Parkway.

West’s trial began last week. A jury on Friday convicted him on the lesser charge of reckless manslaughter.

A sentencing date has not yet been announced.

The shooting happened that Monday following some type of altercation between Brown and some others at the restaurant.

Brown tried to get away from the altercation and started to drive off in his van.

A short time later, police found Brown inside his wrecked van in the 200 block of 12th Street West. He had been shot and was pronounced dead on the scene.

West was taken into custody by Birmingham police on New Year’s Eve, more than two months after the fatal shooting. An officer spotted West walking in an alley near Alamada Avenue, wearing a gray hoodie and a yellow reflective vest.

The officer knew West was wanted on a capital murder charge and recognized him.

West was already a convicted felon at the time of the shooting.

He pleaded guilty in 2011 to first-degree assault for an incident in 2010 where he shot at an off-duty Jefferson County sheriff’s deputy.

Authorities said the deputy was on his way home when he spotted several people blocking traffic.

He asked them to move so he could pass and West reportedly cursed at him several times and then pulled a gun and fired a round through the rear window of the deputy’s vehicle.

The deputy fired one shot in return, but no one was injured.

He pleaded guilty to first-degree assault and was sentenced to 10 years in prison.

He was convicted of burglary in 2013 and also sentenced to 10 years in prison. It wasn’t immediately clear how long he actually served but he was arrested again in 2015 on a robbery charge but that case was later dismissed.