HUNTSVILLE, Ala. (AP) — Prosecutors say a man who stabbed his father 71 times and dumped his body in an Alabama river has been convicted.
News outlets report 33-year-old Eric Ray Jones was found guilty of manslaughter in 55-year-old Anthony Ray Jones' slaying. Madison County prosecutor Paul Barnett says he was originally charged with murder, but jurors found him guilty of the lesser offense Wednesday.
Jones killed his father at a New Hope cabin in 2017 before strapping cinder blocks to his body so it would sink in the Paint Rock River.
Jones said in testimony that he was defending himself in a fight that started because he wrecked his father's truck. Defense attorney Reta McKannan says Jones didn't mean to kill him.
Jones could get a maximum of 20 years in prison. Sentencing hasn't been scheduled.