A Huntsville man has pleaded guilty to murder in the 2019 shooting death of a woman in what police at the time called a botched drug deal.

Jaylon McKinnley Draper, 23, was originally charged with capital murder in the April 10, 2019 death of Samantha Coyner, 19.

According to court documents, Draper pleaded guilty to murder March 1 prior to his scheduled trial and was sentenced to 25 years in prison.

Officers found Coyner suffering a gunshot wound when they were called to the intersection at Hillwood Drive and Chicamauga Trail.

Draper was charged along with 18-year-old Joseph Earls of Huntsville. His case does not appear in online court records.

At a 2019 hearing, Huntsville Police Investigator Dave Mullins testified that both Earls and Draper fired shots at the scene of Coyner’s death, though it was unclear which bullet fatally wounded her.

Mullins testified that shortly after the shooting, police found gunshot residue on Draper’s body. A test on Earls’ skin didn’t detect any gunshot residue, Mullins testified, noting Earls might have been allowed to wash his hands before the test.

Mullins told a judge that Coyner drove two men to a Circle K gas station on South Memorial Parkway, where they were to meet another group for a marijuana deal. Among those in the other group were Earls and Draper, according to police.

When a man from Earls and Draper’s group walked up to Coyner’s car, he tried to pay for marijuana using four fake $100 bills, according to police. The men with Coyner called off the drug deal, and Coyner drove away.

The other group followed her vehicle, Mullins testified. When Coyner stopped near the intersection of Hillwood and Chicamauga, Earls and Draper fired shots, witnesses told police. Coyner was sitting in her vehicle when she suffered a fatal gunshot wound. Officers found 11 shell casings at the scene. She died at Huntsville Hospital.