Manslaughter plea avoids murder trial in 2017 deaths

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — A New Orleans man has pleaded guilty to two counts of manslaughter in a 2017 double-killing and will spend 40 years in prison.

District Attorney Leon Cannizzaro's Office said 33-year-old Rodney T. Marsh pleaded guilty to manslaughter and related charges Friday in a deal that avoided a planned murder trial.

The case involved the deaths of 22-year-old Cierra Green and 25-year-old Terry Jones at a home in New Orleans in September 2017.

Green, a mother of three young daughters, was fatally shot while seated on a sofa. Jones was found on the living room floor and died days later at a hospital.

Cannizzaro's news release says the plea agreement was approved by the victims' families and Criminal District Judge Keva Landrum-Johnson.