James Wendell Dunmore, 52, pleaded guilty to one count of voluntary manslaughter and guilty to one count of failure to report a death by other than natural causes.
The deal allows him to plead guilty while maintaining his innocence, acknowledging that the prosecution has sufficient evidence for a likely conviction.
Dunmore was charged in the death of his girlfriend, Allisha Watts.
The judge accepted the plea on Wednesday and sentenced Dunmore to 58 months minimum, 82 months maximum in prison for each charge. He will get credit for time served, but will serve the sentences consecutively.
The prosecution said in court that this resolution to the case boiled down to a lack of evidence. The state couldn't prove how, when or where Watts died. Her cause of death is listed as undetermined. The DA said that when Watts' remains were found, she was so badly decomposed that she had no skin, so investigators couldn't get fingerprints or DNA.
Dunmore was in a relationship with Watts, 39, at the time of her death. She was last seen with him more than a month before her body was found Aug. 24, 2023, at a cemetery near the Richmond and Montgomery County line. Her family searched for her for weeks.
SEE ALSO | 911 call reveals initial suspicions about Allisha Watts disappearance
911 call reveals initial suspicions about Allisha Watts disappearance
Watts, a Moore County resident, was last seen alive in July 2023.
Her family said this was not the outcome they wanted.
"This has been injustice for Allisha. There was no justice for Allisha Watts," said family spokesperson Dorothy Brower. "And he didn't walk today, but at the same time, what happened to Allisha is far greater than what has happened to him. The impact on her family, the death of her mother from heartbreak, is much more than what's happening to him. He has celebrated birthdays and Christmases. We have not celebrated that with Allisha."
Dunmore's defense said he was going through a psychological episode, and Watts was trying to help him. They claimed that Dunmore jumped out of Watts' car and ran into the woods, and Watts ran after him. The defense said Dunmore can't remember what happened after that point.
Under Wednesday's plea, Dunmore would serve nearly 10 to 13 years in prison.
"The sentence was diabolical. It was wrong. And all sense of the word is wrong," said Tea Hines, Watts' cousin. "It wasn't enough time. I feel the judge had the opportunity, as being a female, to dismiss the plea deal, and she did not do so. She was crying like the rest of us, but she still went along with the plea."
On Wednesday, Dunmore, for the first time, apologized to Watts' family. He said, "I wish I could tell you how sorry I am."
He then said, "No matter what I say, I can't bring her back."
The family they're not buying his apology
"The sorry is not the sorry that we need to hear," Hines said. "We want to hear what you did. Why are you sorry? What did you do to my cousin Allisha?"
Brower echoed those sentiments.
"He has had an opportunity to say he's sorry. He had an opportunity to help look for her and to come out of his house. When we took the bus to his community, to say something. To turn around today and say something," she said. "Unacceptable. Not sincere. Didn't need it."
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