The man accused of a March 2021 murder in Lafayette County has entered guilty pleas to three of the eight charges he’s facing, including a downgraded charge.

Court records indicate that 34-year-old Richard Arrington admitted in a Saline County courtroom Monday, Sept. 22 to an amended charge of voluntary manslaughter, as well as armed criminal action and abandonment of a corpse along a Lafayette County highway. Arrington had been accused of shooting the victim, stealing his truck, then repainted it before abandoning it and the victim’s body after a police pursuit. The case was scheduled to go to a jury trial in October. Instead, as part of a plea agreement, prosecutors will drop five charges including tampering, theft, and property damage when sentencing takes place Oct. 6. The downgrade from murder to manslaughter means that Arrington will no longer face the death penalty.