Man pleads guilty in 2016 burning death of 85 year old

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (WBRC) - A 25-year-old man has pleaded down from capital murder charges to felony murder in the burning death of 85-year-old Gene Dacus that occurred August 2016.

Thomas Sims, who was 18 years old at the time of the crime, was sentenced to 25 years at the Alabama Department of Corrections, with credit for time served.

Police found Dacus’ body severely burned in a backyard in the 2300 block of 33rd Avenue North Aug. 17, 2016. He was pronounced dead on the scene.

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