An Akron woman cried Thursday afternoon as she pleaded guilty in the shooting death of her boyfriend.
Under a plea agreement, Bernetta Vickers pleaded guilty to a lesser count of voluntary manslaughter with a firearm specification and tampering with evidence. Prosecutors agreed to drop the remaining charges against her.
Vickers, 41, was originally charged with aggravated murder with a firearm specification, murder, felonious assault and tampering with evidence. She will be sentenced at 1 p.m. Dec. 14 by Summit County Common Pleas Judge Lynne Callahan. She faces six to 17 years.
Vickers’ trial was scheduled to begin Monday.
Police say Vickers shot 33-year-old Dontay Dudley once in the head after the two quarreled at their Coventry Street home on the morning of May 30, 2015. There was apparently some initial confusion over whether Dudley may have shot himself. It was later discovered that Vickers moved the gun and hid the shell casing.
Vickers was arrested a few months later after the Summit County Medical Examiner’s Office ruled Dudley’s death from a single gunshot a homicide.
Vickers told investigators the shooting was an accident, but prosecutors say this claim isn’t supported by the evidence.
Prosecutors plan to recommend Vickers get the maximum of 17 years in prison. Callahan ordered a pre-sentence investigation and a victim-impact statement.
Don Hicks, Vickers’ attorney, declined to comment until after the sentencing.
Stephanie Warsmith can be reached at 330-996-3705 or swarsmith@thebeaconjournal.com.