Ernest Davenport reached a plea agreement Tuesday by pleading no-contest and received a seven-year hard labor sentence.

Davenport was first charged with second-degree murder by the Abbeville Police after alledgedly killing Oris Montgomery with a baseball bat.

His charged was reduced to manslaughter before trial and if convicted, he could have received 40 years in prison.

After the plea agreement, his charged was changed to aggravated battery which carried a 10-year maximum sentence.

Davenport’s trial was expected to begin Tuesday but before a jury was selected, Davenport reached the plea agreement.

According the police re records, Davenport and Montgomery argued over purchasing beer in January of 2007. Davenport allegedly got mad at Montgomery because he did not want to purchase the beer after giving him the money.

Davenport allegedly became angry with Montgomery and picked up a bat and struck Montgomery a few times with it.