Man in NM ’Good Samaritan’ death in plea deal

(AP) SANTA FE, N.M. - A New Mexico man acquitted of murdering a preschool teacher who intervened to stop a fight with his girlfriend has pleaded to lesser charges.

Adrian Gonzales agreed Thursday to plead guilty to involuntary manslaughter and aggravated battery with a deadly weapon in exchange for two years on supervised probation.

The 31-year-old Dixon resident was acquitted last month of first- and second-degree murder in the 2011 fatal stabbing of 21-year-old Victoriano Moises Byrne-Gonzales. But the jury could not reach verdicts on charges of involuntary manslaughter charge in the killing of Byrne-Gonzales and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon in the stabbing of another man. A mistrial was declared on those charges.

First Judicial District Attorney Angela "Spence" Pacheco told the Santa Fe New Mexican ( http://bit.ly/17ZOwh6) the plea agreement was a better option than a new trial.