NATCHEZ — A Natchez woman will serve five years in prison after pleading guilty to manslaughter in Adams County Circuit Court.

Jessie Mae Tolbert, 34, 10 Beaumont St., received a 20-year suspended sentence in connection to the Nov. 26, 2008, stabbing death of 24-year-old Akeem Firley on Government Fleet Road. Firley suffered one stab wound to the upper chest near his neck.

Tolbert allegedly stabbed Firley after she approached a vehicle in which Firley was the front-seat passenger.

Firley and Tolbert reportedly had a romantic relationship, and the stabbing was likely related to domestic violence, authorities said.

Witnesses last year said Tolbert walked into the woods near Providence Road following the stabbing, and authorities suspected she had fled to Texas.

Tolbert was arrested less than a month after the stabbing at a local hotel and initially charged with murder. Original murder charges were later reduced to manslaughter.

Tolbert will also serve a five-year probation upon her release.