Gwinnett Daily Post

Ervin Turner Sr.

LAWRENCEVILLE -- This New Year's Eve, let Ervin Turner Sr. and Jesse Deane Foster serve as a guiding light: Don't celebrate the turn of the calendar with gunfire.

Turner Sr. and Foster -- stepfather and stepson -- fired shots into the air outside the former's Norcross home as 2010 turned into 2011. Neighbor Sergio Martinez, 34, was struck by a single bullet and killed while standing in his kitchen.

After pleading guilty to involuntary manslaughter this week in Gwinnett County Superior Court, Turner Sr. will be spending the next several New Years in jail while Foster enjoys them while on probation.

Gwinnett County Assistant District Attorney Christa Kirk told the Daily Post that the stepfather and stepson, who were scheduled to face trial this week, instead pleaded guilty on Monday. Turner Sr. was sentenced to 10 years with 40 months to serve, essentially meaning he'll spend more than three years incarcerated and the rest of the sentence on probation.

Foster was given five years probation, Kirk said.

Gwinnett County Detention Center records showed Turner Sr. began serving his sentence on Monday. Both men had posted bond about two weeks after their original arrest on Jan. 3, 2011.