Man gets six-year prison sentence for manslaughter charge

A 22-year-old man has been sentenced to serve time in prison for a manslaughter charge filed against him after a fatal St. Paul shooting.

Court records say Damound Jahema Franks was sentenced to serve 75 months, or just over six years, at the St. Cloud prison. He will get credit for 197 days previously served.

As previously reported by 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS, Franks entered a guilty plea in late December to one count of second-degree manslaughter in exchange for the dismissal of a gun possession and stolen property charges.

RELATED: Charges: Men were playing with guns before fatal St. Paul shooting

According to court records, Franks’ girlfriend, Andrea Thomas, is scheduled to go on trial next week.

Thomas is charged with two counts of aiding an offender.

Franks and Thomas were charged for the death of 21-year-old Jonathan Andrew Wade from St. Cloud in August of 2023.

St. Paul police found Wade dead from a gunshot wound to his head at a home on Manitoba Avenue West near North Parks Street on the night of Aug. 2.

Charging documents noted that several people were inside the home at the time, including a child, when Wade and Franks were playing with guns. A witness said both suddenly went off, and both were hit in the head, although Franks’ injury wasn’t life-threatening.

Franks’ girlfriend was seen on surveillance video dropping a pink backpack in some bushes a couple of blocks away. Inside, police found both guns, according to a criminal complaint.