× Thanks for reading! Log in to continue. Enjoy more articles by logging in or creating a free account. No credit card required. Log in Sign up {{featured_button_text}}

A Slocomb teenager has pleaded guilty to manslaughter for fatally shooting his friend while playing with a handgun.

Geneva County District Attorney Kirke Adams said 17-year-old Joshua Gianni Haire recently pleaded guilty to a felony manslaughter charge in front of Circuit Court Judge Kimberly Clark.

Agents with the State Bureau of Investigation of the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency arrested Haire on April 24, 2015, and charged him with murder.

Adams said Haire, who was 16 at the time of the offense, pleaded guilty to fatally shooting his friend, 26-year-old Demetrius Fryer, at a residence on Mulberry Street in Slocomb.

Adams said apparently Haire had a handgun most of the day when the offense happened.

“The victim did not like guns and had told him to put it away. Mr. Haire had thought it was unloaded or maybe had one bullet,” Adams said. “He was playing around with the gun and shot him.”

Adams called alcohol and drugs contributing factors to the defendant’s actions at the time of the offense.