Pacolet Man Rejects Plea Deal in Connecticut Shooting Death

MILFORD, Conn.—A South Carolina man accused of shooting a man to death in a Milford motel room last year has rejected a plea deal. Sixty-eight-year-old James Street of Pacolet is opting to take his case to trial to argue the shooting was in self defense.

Street faces a maximum sentence of 40 years in prison if convicted of first-degree manslaughter with a deadly weapon.

But Street says he wants to take the case to trial, at least partly because he feels any amount of time in prison would be a life sentence because of his poor health.

Prosecutors and Street’s lawyer say there’s no question that Street fatally shot 37-year-old Tony Lee Simons in the motel.

Street has been held in lieu of $400,000 bond since his arrest.