Tupelo man pleads guilty to 2019 shooting death
Oct. 20—TUPELO — A Tupelo man has pleaded guilt to killing a friend after years of claiming the death was accidental.
Daniel Gilbert, 33, of Leighton Drive, Tupelo, pleaded guilty this week to culpable negligence manslaughter for the October 2019 shooting death of Madchen Sloan, 21, of Tupelo. Senior Circuit Court Judge Paul Funderburk sentenced Gilbert to 20 years, suspending 12 years. After serving remaining eight years, he will have five years of post release supervision, commonly called probation.
District Attorney John Weddle said the victim's family and law enforcement were consulted, and they approved the plea offer.
Tupelo police responded to the shooting call in the 1500 block of Leighton Drive around 1 a.m. on Oct. 15, 2019. At the time, Gilbert said he and Sloan were hanging out after work.
According to Gilbert, the shooting happened as he was getting out of the truck and forgot his handgun. He claimed the gun accidentally discharged as he reached for it.
Weddle said there were other factors, including Gilbert being under the influence of marijuana at the time of the incident. That, combined with the reckless handling of the gun, led the grand jury to indict Gilbert for culpable negligence manslaughter.
He was arrested on the manslaughter charge in March 2021 and later released pending the trial. He was booked back into the Lee County Jail on Thursday morning following his guilty plea.
