SYRACUSE — A central New York man has admitted stabbing his estranged father to death while high on hallucinogenic mushrooms.
Local media report 24-year-old Herman Tolbert Jr. of Clay pleaded guilty Thursday to first-degree manslaughter in a deal that will send him to prison for 15 to 20 years. He had been charged with second-degree murder, but prosecutors agreed to the plea bargain because he had a history of mental illness and acted while emotionally disturbed.
Authorities said 68-year-old Herman Tolbert Sr. was found dead by his wife when she returned from shopping to their suburban Syracuse home on Aug. 4, 2011.
The younger Tolbert had broken into the house after being dropped off by friends who said he’d been acting erratically and then got into an argument with his father.