Man pleads guilty to voluntary manslaughter in Walnut St. shooting

NEW HANOVER COUNTY, N.C. (WWAY) — A man had pled guilty to voluntary manslaughter in a fatal shooting that happened in 2021.

Michael Lynn Nelma, 63, pled guilty for killing Robert Shorter, Jr. outside of Nelma’s home on Walnut St. in the early morning hours of March 13, 2021.

Earlier in the day on March 12, Nelma went to a friend’s house and had three beers. Upon the return to his home at 12:30 a.m. Nelma heard Shorter and an unknown man arguing. Shortly after this Nelma heard a noise in his backyard and saw Shorter holding a knife in one hand and a brick in another.

Shorter left Nelma’s backyard and proceeded to set fire to a chair on Nelma’s porch. After Nelma put out the fire, Shorter lit an item on fire and threw it at Nelma. Shorter then began to leave the premises saying the Nelma wouldn’t sleep in his house tonight.

Nelma went inside his house, retrieved a gun, and fired down the sidewalk, hitting Shorter approximately 50 yards away. Nelma then proceeded to call the police. Officers later located fire damage on Nelma’s front porch chair and a burning bicycle seat in the yard. A knife was located near Shorter.

The defendant’s attorney told the Court that Nelma did not have his phone at the time of the incident as he had dropped it outside because he was nervous after hearing the men arguing. Nelma had described the items thrown at him as firebombs and stated he feared for his safety, leading to the shooting of Shorter.

Nelma went on to say that he had meant to shoot over Shorter’s head to scare him away and did not mean to kill him.

Nelma was sentenced to serve between 64 and 89 months in prison, but if he complies with the prerequisites of advanced supervised release, his sentence may be reduced to a minimum of 38 months in prison.