Travis Shearer is pleading guilty to 3rd degree murder for fatally shooting his Half Brother Eric Miller with a crossbow last June.
Shearer is expected to serve two to five years in prison followed by ten years of probation.
Somerset County District Attorney Molly Metzgar says Shearer and Miller were running errands and ended up going out to drink alcohol together before getting in a verbal alteraction.
Metzgar says that fight later turned physical at Shearer’s home along Cider Mill Road in Friedens.
Investigators say Shearer went into his home and grabbed a Crossbow before shooting and killing Miller.
Shearer takes the plea deal after a ruling by the judge on Friday limiting some of the evidence that Metzgar says shows motive and opportunity for Shearer.
Prosecutors say they planned to file an appeal looking to make that evidence usable in court and the defense says that could have delayed the case by a year and a half or more leading to the agreement being made.
Both sides say they hope it brings closure.
“The family getting closure was something that was of the utmost importance especially for the victim’s surviving children. They’re teenagers, so they have their whole life ahead of them.
And they share family members, I mean this is their uncle.”
“I think what it does is it gives closure to everyone including our client and his family, but also the victim and his family. And in the end I think it was a fair resolution to the case.”
Shearer is scheduled to be sentenced on April 28th but once again, the plea agreement says he’ll face two to five years behind bars followed by 10 years of probation.