Rather than face a murder trial, a former bouncer at a Statesboro bar has entered a guilty plea to voluntary manslaughter in the death of a Georgia Southern University student from Forsyth County.
According to several south Georgia news agencies, Grant Spencer was sentenced to 20-years in prison in the 2014 death of Michael Gatto, a graduate of South Forsyth High School.
Spencer was a bouncer at Rude Rudy's, an off-campus bar in Statesboro, at the time of the deadly incident. Prosecutors said Spencer beat the 18-year-old Gatto, inflicting head injuries that lead to the student's death.
Reporters who were in court said Spencer apologized to Gatto's family.
Following Gatto's death, his family helped legislators formulate Michael's Law, which eliminates bartending and bouncer jobs for anyone under the age of 21 and places tighter restrictions on bar owners.
