Man Sentenced In Chicken Fray

A Sunnyside man was sentenced to three years and two months in prison for killing a neighbor during a dispute over a wandering chicken.

Juan Manuel Escobar, 34, was sentenced Tuesday in Yakima County Superior Court. He was convicted earlier this month of second-degree manslaughter in the death of Joey Michael Sanders, 41, in October 1995.

During his trial, Escobar claimed he shot Sanders in self-defense. The jury rejected that argument but said he acted with negligence rather than intent to kill. Escobar had been charged with second-degree murder.

The two met in Sanders’ garden shortly after Sanders shot a chicken owned by Escobar, police said. Sanders, who was armed with a shotgun, was shot four times and died at the scene, police said.