South Shore man pleads guilty to manslaughter for running over victim
A Lunenburg County man charged with second-degree murder after another man was mowed down with a vehicle has pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of manslaughter.
Terry Richard Johnson, 60, of Bayport appeared in Bridgewater Supreme Court Thursday to enter the plea. He was scheduled for a jury trial next May on the second-degree murder charge after a preliminary inquiry last November.
He was accused of intentionally striking Kenneth Savory with his pickup truck in Dublin Shore on the night of June 17, 2021.
Savory, 44, of Lunenburg, died at the scene of the incident. RCMP had alleged he was run over by the vehicle several times.
Johnson was arrested at his home on Highway 332 a short time later.
Associate Chief Justice Patrick Duncan accepted Johnson’s plea after confirming he understood the process and that he was making the plea freely.
Duncan asked that a presentence report be prepared before Johnson’s sentencing hearing, which is scheduled for Oct. 4.
Crown attorney Leigh-Ann Bryson said she expects that there will be four victim impact statements to be read at that time.
Johnson will remain in custody until his sentencing.
Bryson said after court that the defence approached the Crown recently to discuss the possibility of the plea to the lesser charge.
“Once that (offer) was received, the Crown reviewed its case with a view to what could be proved at trial and the reasonableness of the plea to manslaughter,” Bryson said.
She said she and co-counsel Bryson McDonald spoke with Savory’s family about the plea to the lesser charge.
“It’s always difficult for a family when there is any resolution short of a trial as they wish to see the full process play out, and certainly most of the time the family has a preference for the murder charge to go forward if that’s possible,” Bryson said. “I think in this case they understood the reason the plea was in the best interest at this time.”
Bryson said she doesn’t expect a joint recommendation for a sentence.
She said the Crown doesn’t have a sentencing range in mind at this point.
