This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2012, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
A man who accidentally shot and killed his friend on New Year's Day 2010 has been sentenced to a year in jail.
Ian Christopher Lewis, 26, was visiting with friends at a Salt Lake City home when he killed 23-year-old Steven McKinney.
According to evidence at a preliminary hearing, the gun and a full magazine of bullets were on a countertop in the home. Lewis picked up the gun and, believing the weapon was empty, fired at McKinney. A bullet struck McKinney's head, killing him.
Lewis pleaded guilty in November to a reduced count of attempted manslaughter, a third-degree felony. On Monday, 3rd District Judge Robin Reese suspended a prison term and instead ordered Lewis to serve a year in jail followed by three years of probation and 100 hours of community service.
Lewis and McKinney had been friends since middle school, friends and family members have said.
"They were just goofy together all the time. They would do the most random things ever. They were both the ones that cracked jokes," McKinney's sister, Chelsea Vigil, told The Tribune in 2010. "They just clicked really good."