Man sentenced for accidentally killing fellow Marine

JACKSONVILLE, N.C. – Authorities in North Carolina say a former Marine will serve prison time for accidentally killing a fellow Marine in a case that had initially been ruled an accidental self-inflected shooting.

News outlets report 30-year-old Tyler Prudden of Portland, Michigan, was sentenced Friday to 14 to 26 months in prison for involuntary manslaughter in the 2013 death of 22-year-old Lance Cpl. Lanija Gilpatrick.

Assistant District Attorney Bob Roupe says Prudden and his then-wife Lori Green Prudden initially told Onslow County authorities that Gilpatrick shot himself. But an anonymous Facebook message to Gilpatrick’s mother prompted authorities to reopen the case.

Roupe says Prudden later admitted to pointing a gun he thought was empty at Gilpatrick and firing, shooting him in the eye.

He pleaded guilty in September.