DECATUR, Ala. (WHNT) — A man charged with capital murder in connection to a February 2019 fatal shooting has taken a plea deal, according to court records.

Ulysses Wilkerson pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit murder, a lesser charge, a sentencing order shows. He was sentenced to 20 years, split to serve five years in the Morgan County Jail followed by 36 months of probation, with 15 years of the sentence suspended.

On February 25, 2019, police said Michael Irvin Jr. was found shot to death in his home on Marion Street. Wilkerson and Zachary Williams were both arrested and charged with capital murder on April 4, 2019.

Wilkerson was indicted on three counts of capital murder by a Morgan County grand jury in October 2019. By pleading guilty to the lesser charge of conspiracy to commit murder, Wilkerson had two counts of capital murder dismissed.

The plea deal comes just days before Wilkerson was supposed to go on trial for Irvin Jr.’s death.

The other suspect in the murder, Williams, was found not guilty of capital murder after a week-and-a-half-long trial which took place in early December 2022. However, he was booked back into the Morgan County Jail just three weeks later after a traffic stop led to a stolen gun being found, according to authorities.

A filed affidavit says police found a 9mm Smith and Wesson pistol underneath the driver’s seat during the stop. That gun had been reported stolen through the Huntsville Police Department (HPD), according to the court record. HPD confirmed that the gun had been stolen from a vehicle during a break-in in April 2020.

Williams is currently being held without bail, due to the fact that he was on parole when he was arrested.

Wilkerson is currently serving his sentence in the Morgan County Jail.