A Pine Ridge Reservation man has pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter for fatally shooting a friend while both of them were drinking last July.
36-year old Dirk Garnier accepted a plea agreement that also includes a guilty plea to discharging a firearm during a crime of violence in connection with the death of Beau Blacksmith
He could get up to life for the firearm charge and 15 years for manslaughter, but under the plea agreement prosecutors will recommend a total sentence of 20 years. The judge is not required to follow the 20-year recommendation.
According to the factual basis statement signed by Garnier, he and Blacksmith were drinking at Garnier’s home when they got into an argument.
Garnier then went into the house, got a 20-gauge shotgun, and shot Blacksmith in the face at close range. Blacksmith died at the scene.