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10-Year Sentence In Beating Of Man Who Later Died

HAGERSTOWN, Md. (AP) -- A Hagerstown man is starting a 10-year prison sentence for beating a homeless man who later died.

The Herald-Mail reports that 38-year-old David Miller was convicted of first-degree assault Monday in a case stemming from the June 15 death of 47-year-old Robert Dunavant. The judge suspended 10 years of a 20-year sentence.

Prosecutors dropped charges of second-degree murder and manslaughter because Dunavant died not from the beating, but from a severed carotid artery. There was no evidence Miller used anything to cut Dunavant's neck.

Assistant State's Attorney Brett Wilson says Dunavant was found near a 3-inch shard of glass embedded in the ground with its pointed end facing up.

Wilson says it could not be proven that the glass cut Dunavant's neck, but it could not be ruled out.
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Information from: The Herald-Mail of Hagerstown, Md., http://www.herald-mail.com

(Copyright 2013 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

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