An Austintown man has been resentenced in court on Wednesday for the stabbing death of his stepmother.

According to court employees, 41-year-old James Jarrell pled guilty to an amended charge of voluntary manslaughter, as well as three other charges including kidnapping, tampering with evidence and receiving stolen property.

He was sentenced to 20 years in prison on these charges. As part of a plea deal, Jarrell’s original charge of murder was amended to voluntary manslaughter.

The charges stem from an incident in 2015, where prosecutors Jarrell had run out of crack cocaine and needed money, so he went to his stepmother’s house to get it. She was later found dead in the home by her husband.

The body was found in July, but it wasn’t until September when Jarrell was found by authorities in Pittsburgh driving a vehicle he had stolen from the scene.

Originally, Jarrell was sentenced to 19 years to life in prison for his crimes, but an appeals court had overturned that ruling after ruling that the trial court had failed to allow Jarrell to introduce allegations of battered child syndrome or PTSD during the trial.

Additionally, during the initial sentencing, Jarrell said he did not believe he received a fair trial stating that he couldn’t call any of his own witnesses. Judge Lou D’Apolito disagreed and stated he felt like it was his responsibility to separate Jarrell from civilized society.