Man pleads responsible to killing in the course of the custody swap within the Alabama Police Department car parking zone on Christmas Day 2018

A 33-year-old man has pleaded guilty to killing another man during a custody swap.

The fatal shooting occurred on Christmas Day 2018 in the Hamilton Police Department parking lot.

Christopher Andrew Cochran was initially charged with murder in the shooting death of 48-year-old Lorenzo Jose “Joe” Mercado Garcia.

Garcia brought his two children, then 3 and 4 years old, to be picked up by their mother. Cochran, the mother’s friend, fatally shot Garcia while the children were still present.

He was charged under Hollie’s Law, which was enacted just a month before Garcia’s murder and made the murder of a parent or guardian a felony if committed in the presence of a minor under the age of 14.

The law was named after Hollie Newbury, a 24-year-old Lauderdale County woman who was shot dead by her children’s father when they met for a custody swap in 2009.

Scott Slatton, District Attorney for Alabama’s 25th Circuit, on Sunday announced Cochran’s guilty plea to a reduced charge of manslaughter. He said the settlement was reached after the victim’s family expressed an interest in the case being settled without having to endure a lengthy process.

Cochran, who has been imprisoned since 2018, received a 20-year sentence. He entered the plea and received the verdict on Friday.

Cochran will remain in the Marion County Jail until transferred to the custody of the Alabama Department of Justice.