NATCHEZ &045; Jim Earl Tuesnoe IV will serve 20 years with the Mississippi Department of Corrections for the 2004 shooting death of Jesse Lamark Garrison.

While prospective jurors in the murder trial waited down the hall, Tuesnoe pled guilty to the lesser charge of manslaughter to Circuit Judge Forrest &uot;Al&uot; Johnson.

In front of his own family and that of the victim, Tuesnoe told Johnson that he shot Garrison four times in the Huddle House parking lot.

&uot;We were arguing real bad,&uot; Tuesnoe said. &uot;We argued inside the Huddle House and left and went outside. He was saying words and I was saying words. He reached for his pants and I reached for my pants.&uot;

Tuesnoe, 25, said he thought Garrison was reaching for a gun, so he pulled his own pistol.

Tuesnoe’s attorney Patricia Dunmore told the judge she examined a possible self-defense defense, but determined the evidence wasn’t there to support it.

Assistant District Attorney David Hall said the incident was caught on the restaurant’s surveillance camera, which shows the reaction of several witnesses and employees when Garrison was shot.

Hall said no weapon of any sort was found on Garrison and said he had witnesses ready to testify that Tuesnoe was &uot;pistol whipping&uot; Garrison’s dead body.

Since Tuesnoe entered a guilty plea and forfeited his right to trial, attorneys did not present evidence, but Hall said the incident was the result of an argument over who had the faster car.

&uot;They left to run a race and the prize to the winner was $200,&uot; Hall told Johnson. &uot;It’s my understanding they raced to Trinity. (On the tape) they leave for five minutes and you see words being exchanged.&uot;

The two men returned to the restaurant’s parking lot where Garrison retrieved food and the argument continued, Hall said.

Johnson said he thought the manslaughter plea was appropriate in this case. The original indictment was murder, defined as killing with malice or forethought. Manslaughter is legally defined as killing in the heat of passion or anger.

Hall said medical analysis showed that Tuesnoe shot Garrison in the back two times, the elbow once and once near the ear. Tuesnoe said he did not shoot him in the back and guessed the shots fell around Garrison’s front mid-section. Dunmore said since no autopsy was done, no exact determination could be made.

After the plea and the dismissal of the jurors, Johnson proceeded with the sentencing hearing and heard from several family members on both sides.

His 20-year sentence was the maximum allowed by law. The minimum is two years in the county jail.

Garrison’s family members including two aunts and a cousin all said they agreed with the lesser charge of manslaughter, but wanted to see Tuesnoe serve the maximum amount of time.

&uot;His mother can go (to jail) and see him, but Jesse’s mother can’t go anywhere but the cemetery and see him,&uot; said Kathryn Jones, Garrison’s aunt.

His mother Annette Garrison said her son never carried a weapon with him and was always harmless.

&uot;Mr. Tuesnoe shot him four times. I don’t care how hard or how light, but if he just laid the pistol beside his head, that isn’t human,&uot; Garrison said.

&uot;I want him to have the maximum of whatever he can get because you don’t do animals like that.&uot;

Dunmore said Tuesnoe has a serious learning disability and should never have been walking around with a gun in his possession.

&uot;He’s been as productive of a person as a person can be with his IQ,&uot; Dunmore said. &uot;I’m not saying Jim should go free, he must be punished, but this was not a cold blooded killing.&uot;

Tuesnoe’s mother said she had tried hard all of Jim’s life to help him succeed.

&uot;I feel like Jim was put in a situation that he tried to defend himself,&uot; she said. &uot;He was never a bright kid, but he always had the heart.&uot;

Tuesnoe apologized to Garrison’s family before his sentence was announced.

&uot;I’m sorry for what happened,&uot; he said. &uot;I wish that I could go back in time and that would never have happened. I should have been home that night with my family. I’m just so sorry.&uot;

Johnson said he didn’t doubt Tuesnoe’s sincerity at all, but life has consequences.

&uot;Life if very short. Life is very precious,&uot; Johnson said during sentencing.

&uot;This is another case of an absolutely senseless killing over something about a car race and some money. Somehow, some way, these senseless killings have to stop.&uot;