WILSON, N.C. - Darius Sessoms agreed to an Alford plea in the first-degree murder of 5-year-old Cannon Hinnant on Thursday, according to local news outlets.
A judge sentenced the 25-year-old Sessoms to life in prison without the possibility of parole at the Wilson County Courthouse.
The plea allows Sessoms to avoid the death penalty for the August 2020 shooting that devastated a family and shook the town of Wilson, according to news outlet WRAL.
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Under an Alford plea, a defendant can maintain his or her innocence while acknowledging prosecutors have enough evidence for a conviction.
Family members said Cannon Hinnant was riding his bike outside his father's house on Archers Road when he was shot in the head. The boy's two child sisters saw their brother get shot, according to Cannon's family.
Cannon was taken to Wilson Medical Center, where he died.
Aolani Pettit, 25, Sessoms' girlfriend at the time of the murder, pleaded guilty to obstruction of justice. She was sentenced to four to 14 months, all suspended, along with 18 months supervised probation.
Sessoms lived next to Cannon's father, Austin Hinnant.
A GoFundMe launched for Hinnant in the days after the murder reached over $800,000 as news of his death reverberated throughout the region.
Sessoms made his first court appearance in May. He was indicted by a grand jury for charges of first-degree murder and possession of a firearm by felon in December 2021.
