Jayson Williams pleads guilty in fatal NJ shooting

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SOMERVILLE, N.J. (AP) – Former NBA star Jayson Williams has pleaded guilty to aggravated assault for accidentally killing a limousine driver, closing the case nearly eight years after the fatal shooting.

Williams was charged with reckless manslaughter but on Monday pleaded guilty to the lesser count for the 2002 death of Costas Christofi.

At Williams’ 2004 trial, witnesses testified that he was showing off a shotgun in his bedroom when he snapped the weapon shut and it fired. The jury deadlocked on a reckless manslaughter count and a retrial on that charge was due to start this week.

The guilty plea to the assault charge carries a minimum 18-month sentence because a gun was involved.

Last week, Williams was charged with drunken driving after crashing his SUV into a tree in New York.

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