An Alabama man will spend the rest of his life in prison after accepting a plea deal in connection with the murder of his pregnant wife and their unborn son, news outlets report.
Hunter Tatum, 26, pleaded guilty to two counts of murder on June 21 in an Autauga County courtroom, District Attorney CJ Robinson said in a Facebook post.
The plea deal came just before the state and defense teams were to give their closing arguments, the Montgomery Advertiser reported. The state was seeking the death penalty for Tatum, the outlet said.
Tatum will serve two consecutive 99-year sentences after the 2021 killing of his wife, Summer, and their son Everett, AL.com reported.
On Oct. 18 in the couple’s Prattville home, Summer discovered that Hunter was having an affair with a woman online, Robinson told AL.com. She put his gaming console in the sink and ran the water, and the couple began arguing.
Audio captured by a home surveillance camera was shared by the state during the trial, showing Summer begging for her life, the Montgomery Advertiser reported.
“Please! Please! Please!” Summer said in the audio, the outlet said. “I’ll stay! I’ll do anything! Please don’t kill me!”
Hunter Tatum’s team argued he shot his wife in self-defense after Summer grabbed a .38 revolver, AL.com reported, and the gun went off when Tatum tried to take the gun away.
However, court documents obtained by WSFA said Summer was shot twice in the back of the head.
Summer was rushed to the hospital where she later died, WSFA reported, but doctors were able to deliver her 5-month-old son, later named Everett.
Everett died just hours later in the neonatal intensive care unit, the Montgomery Advertiser reported.
“This case took an emotional toll on all of us,” Robinson said on Facebook. “Hunter Tatum has been sentenced to serve 198 years in prison.”
Prattville is about 15 miles northwest of Montgomery.
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