A man from Niles was convicted on Friday for a fatal shooting outside a South Bend bar on Easter morning.
In the early morning hours of April 9, Marcus Hatcher and a group of friends got into an altercation with Eddie Tyler and a group of his friends in the parking lot of Finnie’s Next Door.
Court documents say the fight eventually erupted into a shooting with the 28-year-old Hatcher fatally hitting Tyler who was 24.
A few weeks after the shooting, prosecutors filed murder charges against Hatcher alleging the Niles resident pulled out a rifle and shot Tyler. However, a jury on Friday found Hatcher guilty of reckless homicide, a less severe offense.
Court documents from the case also said Tyler and his brother drew handguns during the argument and Tyler’s brother fired back after Hatcher fatally shot Tyler.
Hatcher now faces a maximum sentence of six years in prison, with a firearm enhancement that could add more time. He will be sentenced in December.
