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'He knocked on the wrong door' | Man pleads guilty to lesser charges in deadly motel fight in Macon

A man was shot and killed at a Macon motel in 2021. The man accused in his killing has now accepted a guilty plea but on lesser charges.

MACON, Ga. — Editors note: the video attached to this story is from previous coverage.

A man pleaded guilty to killing a man at a south Macon motel, admitting to lesser charges in exchange for the murder charges against him being dropped.

William Lee Daniel, III, was arrested and charged with murder in the 2021 death of Michael Terrell, 32, at the Magnolia Court Motel. 

The motel — which has since been demolished — was located at the intersection of Houston Avenue, Pio Nono and Broadway. The scene stretched from the hotel to the Valero gas station.

Terrell was shot and killed in what a witness on the scene described as a dispute over rent money.

"He knocked on the wrong door, I guess, and you know it could have been me that was shot because I tried to collect my rent money, but he took it upon himself to do my job and you see what happened," property manager at the time Kenny Wayne said.

The Bibb County Sheriff's Office said Daniel shot and killed Terrell, leaving the scene and fleeing across Pio Nono Avenue. He was arrested soon after. 

They said Terrell would die at Atrium Health Navicent shortly after the shooting.

But last month, Daniel pleaded guilty to lesser charges — voluntary manslaughter — and prosecutors agreed to drop the other, more serious charges against him. 

Originally, Daniel was charged with murder, aggravated assault and probation violation.

Daniel was sentenced to 20 years in prison for shooting and killing Terrell, which is the maximum sentence a person convicted of voluntary manslaughter can receive. 

However, the court records say Daniel will receive credit for the time he already spent incarcerated in the county jail.

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