Jefferson Parish District Attorney Paul Connick's office today secured a guilty plea from a 22-year-old man who shot and killed his mother in their Metairie home.
"A Jefferson Parish judge on Monday (May 6) sentenced Chad McAvoy to 40 years in prison, after he pleaded guilty to killing his mother with a shotgun blast," The D.A.'s office said in a news release.
It comes after the state agreed to a reduced charge of manslaughter instead of second degree murder.
A murder conviction comes with a mandatory life sentence, but prosecutors agreed to a 40-year sentence with the guilty plea.
"McAvoy... admitted he killed his mother Connie McAvoy, 42, on March 1, 2018... he fired a single (shotgun shell) into her back, causing her to expire at the scene,” Assistant District Attorney Kellie Rish said.
Initially, McAvoy's husband told police his wife shot herself.
"According to testimony presented during a pretrial hearing, the Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office, after receiving a 911 call from McAvoy’s father, initially treated the incident as a suicide. Deputies found Mrs. McAvoy on the floor of a hallway, suffering from an apparent gunshot wound to her upper back."
Detectives questioned McAvoy and his father, and McAvoy initially pointed blame at his father.
The news release says that the victim’s sister, mother and older son all testified that they supported the plea agreement as being “best for the whole family.”
McAvoy told the court he had “regret” for his decision to kill his mother.
