FRANKLIN, Ga. - A Cedartown man was sentenced Tuesday to 35 years in prison after a Heard County jury convicted him of voluntary manslaughter and cruelty to children in the first degree.

What we know:

Brody Nichols received his sentence Sept. 17 from Superior Court Judge Erica Tisinger, according to the West Georgia Judicial Circuit District Attorney’s Office. Nichols had been indicted on charges of malice murder, felony murder and cruelty to children, but jurors found him guilty of the lesser manslaughter charge along with cruelty to children.

Prosecutors said the case stemmed from a Dec. 27, 2023, shooting at a home on Roosterville Road. Deputies with the Heard County Sheriff’s Office found the victim, Hunter Barrows, dead from multiple gunshot wounds to the head in the living room.

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