Michael Vance Matter has pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter in the shooting death of Howard Stanley Urquhart, but claims it was a hunting accident.

Matter, his attorneys and the Mercer County District Attorney’s office settled on a plea deal Monday in a conference with Common Pleas Court Judge Christopher St. John.

Matter, 53, formerly of 40 Maple Road, West Salem Township, was accused of murdering Urquhart, 60, of 347 Hadley Road, Hempfield Township, by shooting him in the back of the neck Jan. 15 in a wooded area off Bandy Road in Greene Township.

Matter was charged April 24 by state police with first- and third-degree murder, robbery, theft of a motor vehicle, forgery, access device fraud, persons not to possess a firearm, possessing instruments of crime and abuse of a corpse.

The murder charges were dropped in exchange for the manslaughter plea and Matter also pleaded guilty to theft of a motor vehicle, forgery, access device fraud, persons not to possess a firearm and abuse of a corpse. The other charges were dropped.

Mercer County District Attorney Robert Kochems asked that Matter be sentenced to 16 to 32 years in a state prison. The maximum sentence for the charges is 17 to 34 years, St. John said.

His sentencing was set for 9 a.m. March 5, which can’t come soon enough for Urquhart’s family members, who watched Matter in disbelief as he described accidentally shooting his hunting buddy because he mistook him for a deer.

“This isn’t the kind of justice my dad deserves,” Urquhart’s daughter, Jennifer Urquhart, said after the hearing.

She and her mother, Carolyn Urquhart, Urquhart’s former wife, said they were disappointed, appalled and devastated that Matter won’t be tried before a jury.

“We’re very sad,” Mrs. Urquhart said.

There is “no way” Urquhart’s death was a hunting accident, said the women, who live in Meadville. Matter’s family will be able to visit him in prison but Urquhart is gone forever, Ms. Urquhart said.

“My dad doesn’t get to see his family,” said Ms. Urquhart, who plans to testify at Matter’s sentence hearing.

St. John told Matter he could be eligible for parole after he serves his minimum sentence, but it’s not guaranteed. He also said if Matter’s case had gone to trial and he was convicted of murder, he’d receive a mandatory life sentence.

“It was my decision,” Matter said of taking the plea deal.

Matter said he didn’t shoot Urquhart in self-defense and did not suffer from any mental illnesses, but had been feeling depressed lately because of the charges against him.