OTTUMWA, Iowa (AP) — A jury has found an Ottumwa man guilty of second-degree murder in the 2018 killing of another man.
KTVO reports that 19-year-old Jacob Heckethorn was also found guilty Wednesday of assault with intent to commit serious injury in Aug. 23, 2018, shooting death of 43-year-old William Shettlesworth, of Bloomfield.
Heckethorn had been on trial for first-degree murder, but the Wapello County jury convicted on the reduced count after nearly two days of deliberation.
Heckethorn had argued he shot Shettlesworth in self-defense as he tried to rescue a friend from a fight.
Heckethorn faces up to 50 years in prison when he’s sentenced in January.
