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WEST PALM BEACH — Standing before a judge, Nathan Hughes described the man he was accused of accidentally shooting and killing two years ago as being like a brother to him.
Hughes tearfully requested forgiveness from the family of Cody Collins. As investigators described it, Hughes shot Collins in the neck on the evening of Aug. 27, 2022, as the two men played with guns at an apartment on San Marino Boulevard in West Palm Beach's Villages neighborhood.
Collins died from his injuries. He was 25.
On Thursday, Sept. 26, after hearing testimony both from Hughes and Collins' relatives, Circuit Judge Howard Coates accepted Hughes' plea to manslaughter while in possession of a firearm. Coates sentenced Hughes, now 24 and of Greenacres, to five years in state prison to be followed by 15 years of probation.
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As Hughes addressed the court, he paused to regain his composure.
"I wish it was me that day instead of Cody," Hughes said. "I wish my brother could still be alive, to live his life with me watching over him instead of the way it is today. He was my big brother from time to time, my little brother when I came to protect him."
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A woman who identified herself only as Collins' sister Ashley addressed the court and described Hughes' actions in her brother's death as "irresponsible."
"It's not the gun's fault. It's your fault for holding it up to my brother, pulling the trigger and murdering him," she said.
In the moments after the fatal shooting, a witness told investigators that Hughes and Collins frequently emptied their firearms and "played with them," pointing the unloaded guns at one another. Hughes told an officer he mistakenly believed his firearm was empty when he pulled its trigger.
Julius Whigham II is a criminal justice and public safety reporter for The Palm Beach Post. You can reach him at jwhigham@pbpost.com and follow him on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, at @JuliusWhigham. Help support our work: Subscribe today.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Man takes manslaughter plea in friend's 2022 accidental shooting death
