JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A man accused of shooting and killing his son, former University of Central Florida and University Christian football star Otis Anderson Jr., accepted a plea deal Tuesday and was sentenced to 12.5 years in prison.
Otis Anderson Sr. had previously pleaded not guilty to charges of second-degree murder in the death of his 23-year-old son and second-degree attempted murder for shooting his wife, who survived.
As part of the negotiated deal with prosecutors, Anderson Sr. pleaded guilty Tuesday to two lesser counts of manslaughter and attempted manslaughter.
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He was sentenced to 12 years and six months in state prison on the manslaughter charge and three years on the attempted manslaughter charge. The sentences with run concurrently. Anderson Sr. was credited with 707 days of time served for his sentence.
He will serve five years of probation after he is released.
The deadly shooting happened on Nov. 29, 2021, at the Andersons’ Northside home. According to investigators, it stemmed from an argument after Anderson Sr. was bitten by his son’s girlfriend’s dog.
A detective who testified in a previous hearing said Anderson Sr. shot and wounded his wife after she began hitting him with a Swiffer. Investigators described the wife’s injury as a graze wound.
According to his arrest report, Anderson Sr. told investigators he shot his son in self-defense and later said if he could reverse his actions for his son to still be alive, he would.
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