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‘No contest’ plea entered in death of South LA senior

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A man has pleaded no contest to second-degree murder in connection with an attack on a 75-year-old South Los Angeles man, who was left in a vegetative state until he died about four and a half years later.

Harry Leon Neely Jr., 45, was sentenced to 15 years-to-life in state prison for the Aug. 13, 2005, attack on Harvey Sumpter, according to the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office.

Sumpter was found bound, gagged and severely injured inside his home after Neely entered the house through a window, according to court testimony.

Sumpter remained in a vegetative state until he died at age 80 on Feb. 19, 2010, from blunt force trauma to the head, according to the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office.

Neely—who was identified as the assailant several years later as a result of DNA evidence—was arrested in March 2016 in Memphis, Tenn., according to the District Attorney’s Office.

Neely has remained behind bars since then.

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