Man Pleads Guilty Over 2009 Party Death
Posted/updated on: October 1, 2010 at 2:37 am
TYLER (AP) — A Tyler man must serve 45 years in prison over a fatal stabbing during a party at a Smith County deputy sheriff’s home. Prosecutors say Joshua Dwain Barnes on Wednesday pleaded guilty to murder in a plea agreement. Barnes also apologized over the Dec. 27, death of James Brandon Lee.
Barnes, who served in the U.S. Army in Iraq, originally claimed self defense, but prosecutors said his recorded confession to police would be used at trial. Barnes and Lee had argued at a party of then-Deputy Terry Helms Lindsey of Tyler.
Lindsey in June was sentenced to 10 years of probation and six months in jail after pleading guilty to aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. Investigators say Lindsey, who was off duty, beat Barnes after Barnes stabbed Lee. Lindsey was fired after his arrest.
