Mo. hunter sentenced for friend's death

HILLSBORO, Mo. -- An eastern Missouri man who killed a teenage friend in a bowhunting accident last year has been sentenced to seven years in prison.

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported that 21-year-old Jered Winters received the maximum sentence Wednesday in Jefferson County Circuit Court. Winters pleaded guilty earlier to involuntary manslaughter.

Winters said he was joking around when he accidentally fired an arrow into the face of 15-year-old Ryan Sargeant in September 2010. The two were hunting deer in Byrnes Mill when the accident happened.

Winters told police he jokingly pointed his bow at the teenager and accidentally tapped the trigger. Police said Sargeant had pointed his bow at Winters but did not have an arrow loaded.