Man Will Spend Four Years Behind Bars for Choking Another Man to Death

A verdict was reached and sentencing handed down for the Lynchburg man responsible for the death of another man in a 2012 fight at the Elks building on Fifth Street. 37 year old, Shawn Lee Johnson faced one count of second-degree murder in the choking death of 34 year old Thomas Belford. The jury on Monday decided on a lesser charge of involuntary manslaughter. The medical examiner testified that the autopsy found that Belford died of strangulation. The jury recommended that Johnson serve four years in prison.