Woman pleads guilty to manslaughter
DADE CITY (AP) – A Pasco County woman has pleaded guilty to fatally shooting a man she believed molested her mentally retarded daughter.
Sylvia Neeley had been facing a murder charge but pleaded guilty Wednesday to a lesser charge of manslaughter. According to the plea agreement, the 49-year-old woman will receive 10 years in prison at her sentencing later this month. That time will be reduced by four years she already served after an earlier conviction that was later overturned.
In May 1998, prosecutors say Neeley shot her neighbor, 73-year-old Arthur Danner, several times with a .357-caliber revolver, went home to reload her gun and then returned to shoot him in the groin.
Neeley told authorities that Danner had bragged about molesting her then-12-year-old daughter and claimed that he could do it again.