Starnes sentenced for man's death
A Wichita Falls man pleaded guilty and was sentenced to prison Thursday for killing Air Force veteran William Glenn Stephens, 64, in 2018, according to court documents.
William David Starnes, 51, pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of manslaughter as part of a plea bargain in 89th District Court, court records show.
Starnes was sentenced to 15 years in prison for manslaughter by 89th District Judge Charles Barnard, court documents show. Starnes received 1,621 days of jail time credit.
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Manslaughter is punishable by up to 20 years in prison. He was previously charged with murder, which is punishable by life in prison.
Thursday, Starnes was also sentenced for three other offenses, and two charges were dismissed as part of plea agreements.
He was sentenced to five years in prison for assaulting a family or household member, with a previous conviction, on April 23, 2018, in connection with an attack on his wife, court documents show.
Starnes has a Feb. 3, 2002, domestic violence conviction, court records show. The assault of a family or household member is punishable by up to 10 years in prison.
In addition, he was sentenced to five years for assault of a family or household member, with a previous conviction, in connection with a Jan. 3, 2018, incident involving a man, court documents show.
And Starnes was sentenced to 15 years in prison for aggravated assault with a deadly weapon in connection with an Aug. 27, 2017, incident in which he used a wooden stick to threaten a man, court documents show.
The offense is punishable by up to 20 years in prison.
A felony charge for possession of less than 1 gram of methamphetamine in connection with an April 23, 2018, incident was dismissed, court documents show.
The drug charge is punishable by up to 10 years in prison.
In addition, Starnes was accused of retaliating against a Wichita Falls police officer in connection with an Aug. 27, 2017, incident, court records show. The charge was dismissed.
Retaliation is punishable by up to 10 years in prison.
Starnes was being held Thursday in the Wichita County Law Enforcement Center, according to online jail records.
Police say on April 23, 2018, Starnes hit Stephens with a piece of wood in the 500 block of Burkburnett Road, inflicting a severe brain injury, court records show. Stephens was pronounced dead at the hospital April 26, 2018.
Police responded to the scene around noon April 23, 2018, and discovered Stephens and a woman lying on the ground, according to court documents.
She and another woman told police they had seen Starnes hit Stephens in the head with a piece of wood, causing him to collapse to the ground, court records show.
The woman who had been found on the ground was Starnes' wife, and she told police he tried to run her down, court records show.
Stephens was transported by AMR ambulance to United Regional Health Care System and immediately went into emergency surgery, court records show.
More:Wichita Falls PD: Man struck victim in the back of the head
At about 4:13 p.m. that day, officers tracked down Starnes, who had what appeared to be wooden fencing material in his pickup in the 1400 block of North Sixth Street, court documents show.
Known as "Wild Bill" among his family and friends, Stephens was born in Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin, and lived in Wichita Falls for over 45 years, according to his obituary. He came to Wichita Falls while in the Air Force, loved the warm weather and decided to live here.
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This article originally appeared on Wichita Falls Times Record News: Wichita Falls man sentenced to mansalughter
