A north Alabama murder suspect pleaded guilty under a deal to serve nearly 4 1/2 years in prison, according to court records.

Mario Lashawn Richardson, 41, of Sheffield, pleaded guilty to a charge of murder and was sentenced Wednesday to four years and four months in prison followed by five years of probation, records showed.

Richardson killed Jonathan Nipper, who was found suffering from gunshot wounds to his back and shoulder in the dining room of a home in the 300 block of S Columbia Avenue in Sheffield on June 1, 2020, according to the indictment in the case.

Nipper was taken to a local hospital where he died of his injuries.

Richardson was sentenced in Colbert County Circuit Court to 20 years in prison, although nearly 16 months of the sentence was suspended.