A 32-year-old man was sentenced to 10 years in prison Wednesday, March 11, after pleading guilty to manslaughter in connection with the shooting death of his mother’s partner.

Sean Joseph Lynn had been living north of Coburg in 2024 with his mother and the man he shot, 49-year-old Derrick Adam McKee. 

The Lane County Sheriff’s Office arrested Lynn hours after finding McKee dead from a gunshot wound Aug. 19, 2024, at their home on the 33000 block of Coleman Road.

Lynn pleaded guilty Jan. 26 after negotiations with prosecutors reduced his charge to second-degree manslaughter from second-degree murder.

Had the case gone to trial, “the central issues would have been whether Mr. Lynn’s use of his firearm was justified as self-defense, and/or whether he was acting under the influence of an extreme emotional disturbance,” Lynn’s defense attorney, Caitlin Plummer, wrote in a memo presented to the court before Wednesday’s sentencing hearing.

Lynn told police that McKee told Lynn he was going to “knock him out” while confronting him in Lynn’s bedroom according to court documents. Lynn claimed McKee kept advancing toward him with a balled-up fist, then pushed him onto a bed as he tried to leave.

Lynn’s attorney said McKee had been “increasingly controlling and hostile” toward Lynn, who was working and saving money after moving in about six months earlier when he was laid off from a job in Hillsboro.

Documents filed by prosecutors in the case last year — before a plea agreement was reached — said Lynn’s “drug use prior to the incident is relevant to show his state of mind and to explain why his relationship with the victim in the months leading up to the assault was tumultuous.” 

Lane County Circuit Judge Jay McAlpin’s sentence matched the recommendation made by prosecutors and McKee’s defense attorney.

Court documents described Lynn as having no criminal history, and he will receive credit towards his sentence for the approximately 19 months served in Lane County Jail.