Body was found in a Modesto garage. A man has pleaded guilty in his death.

A defendant has pleaded no contest to voluntary manslaughter for shooting a man who was found dead and stored in a garage at a Modesto home three years ago.

William Eric Smith of Modesto on Thursday also pleaded no contest to assault with a gun in connection with the death of Kenneth Sedra Jr. Acting on an anonymous tip, Modesto police found the 53-year-old man’s body in the detached garage of a triplex home in the 3100 block of Coffee Road.

In exchange for his plea, Smith, 47, will be sentenced to 26 years in prison, according to John Goold, a spokesman for the Stanislaus County District Attorney’s Office.

Smith’s manslaughter charge included an enhancement for using a gun in the killing. Goold said Smith agreed to waive custody credits he earned while he awaited prosecution in the Stanislaus County Jail for nearly three years.

Sedra’s body was discovered June 16, 2015. Investigators detained and questioned several people at the home, but only Smith was charged with Sedra’s death. Sedra was from Modesto, but he did not live at the Coffee Road home; neither did Smith.

Investigators believe the shooting occurred June 14, 2015, two days before the body was found. Prosecutors said Smith and witnesses who were there when Sedra was shot to death did anything to help the victim or call for medics.

Modesto police officials have said evidence at the scene indicated the homicide occurred inside the garage. Prosecutors say a dispute over a car and money led to the deadly shooting. Smith was not at the home when Sedra’s body was found.

On June 30 2015, Smith was captured in Sparks, Nev., and was taken into custody without incident by a fugitive task force led by Northern Nevada’s U.S. Marshals Service. Smith was brought back to Stanislaus County to face charges in Sedra’s death about two months later.

The manslaughter and assault charges are each considered strikes under the state’s “Three Strikes” law and can be used to increase a prison sentence if Smith is convicted of an another felony.

Smith is scheduled to be formally sentenced Tuesday in Stanislaus Superior Court . On Friday afternoon, he remained in custody at the Stanislaus County Jail.

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This story was originally published August 5, 2018 at 4:51 PM with the headline "Body was found in a Modesto garage. A man has pleaded guilty in his death.."