A Coffee County man pleaded guilty Wednesday to first-degree assault in connection with a shooting last March in Spring Hill.

William Sunday, 2X, admitted to shooting Gary Brooks multiple times in the parking lot of Ward’s Grocery on March 16, 2016.

Sunday pleaded guilty as a jury was being selected for his trial on a charge of attempted murder.

Prosecutor Jon Folmar said Sunday took a blind plea deal to be sentenced for the lesser charge than face trial for attempted murder and risk being charged with 20 years to life in prison.

Sunday took a blind plea, which means he agreed which charge to plead guilty to, but not to a sentence. Sunday will be sentenced to 10 to 20 years in prison at a later date.

Folmar said Sunday shot Brooks eight times in the parking lot that Wednesday morning after the two had a dispute over a drug debt owed to Sunday by Brooks.

The shooting occurred around 5:45 a.m. that morning in Spring Hill, even though both Sunday and Brooks are from Coffee County.

Officials at the Pike County Sheriff’s Department said words were exchanged between the two before shots were fired.

According to Sheriff Russell Thomas, Sunday confessed that he shot Brooks because of a two-week dispute about marijuana Sunday “fronted” Brooks going unpaid for.

Folmar said the state would have needed to prove Sunday had an intent to murder Brooks to successfully convict Sunday on attempted murder, but only needed to prove that he intended to seriously injure Brooks or caused Brooks to suffer serious physical injury by means of a deadly weapon.

“District Attorney Tom Anderson and the District Attorney’s Office want to thank the members of the Pike County Sheriff’s Department, particularly Investigator Troy Johnson, for their hard work in leading to the arrest and conviction of Mr. Sunday,” Folmar said.