A fight that ended with the death of one man has sent another to prison for more than two years.

Tuesday, Donald Gray Silverthorne, of Chocowinity, pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter in Beaufort County Superior Court. The plea comes nearly five years after the death of Billy Ray Clark, of Sticks Road, Chocowinity, who died of severe head trauma exacerbated by hypothermia on Oct. 20, 2009, the day after a fight between the men.

The two men, both in their fifties, had been friends since they were teenagers, but a night of drinking together at Silverthorne’s Chocowinity residence turned deadly when it was revealed Clark had made disparaging remarks about Silverthorne’s girlfriend, according to prosecutors.

Assistant District Attorney Mike Holloman told the court it was after those remarks were made that an angry Silverthorne assaulted Clark with “four or five” hard, openhanded slaps to both sides of Clark’s head, then kicked him several times in the lower body after Clark fell to the kitchen floor. Clark was dragged toward the door of the mobile home, but it was of his own volition that he crawled out of the residence, he said.

According to Holloman, the fight was witnessed by Connie White — Silverthorne’s sister and Clark’s ex-wife — who, upon leaving the home at about 2 a.m. on Oct. 20, saw Clark lying on the ground behind a truck and attempted to get him to leave with her. At that time, Clark was awake but did not respond to White’s efforts.

Temperatures that night dropped into the upper-30s to mid-40s range, and Clark spent those hours exposed to the elements, wearing jeans and no shirt, according the prosecution. At 7:30 a.m. the next morning, neighbor Timothy Jones found Clark lying against the chain link fence separating the two properties and called 911. Clark was transported to Vidant Beaufort Hospital with a body temperature of 80.6 degrees and a blood alcohol level of .10. He was again transported to Vidant Medical Center in Greenville where he died later that day.

An autopsy revealed the cause of death was swelling of the brain due to severe head trauma.

According to Holloman, the state found no evidence of malice on Silverthorne’s part and Silverthorne was cooperative with law enforcement during all phases of the investigation. However, it was the state’s contention that Silverthorne’s lack of action in checking on his friend as he lay in the yard after the fight categorized the crime as aggravated.

“The drinking that was involved in this — it certainly compounded the issues that occurred and transpired,” Holloman told Superior Court Judge Jack W. Jenkins. “There’s not any indication there was any malice. Unfortunate as it is, Mr. Silverthorne lost control of himself.”

“What bothers the state the most is that Clark laid out there in the yard without anyone checking on him,” Holloman said.

Clark’s movement throughout the night indicated he was trying to extricate himself from the situation, but was unable to do so on his own, he added.

Two members of the Clark family addressed Jenkins on the family’s behalf — Diane Clark, Billy Ray Clark’s sister, and Curtis Clark, his brother — with seemingly opposing viewpoints on Silverthorne’s role in Billy Ray Clark’s death.

“Donald, you have to live with the killing of another human being — the father of your sister’s child,” Diane Clark told Silverthorne, while Curtis Clark told the court Silverthorne was innocent, which led Jenkins to question whether Curtis Clark understood a crime had been committed and had to be dealt with according to law.

On behalf of his client, Defense Attorney John Bramble told the court that there was never any question that Silverthorne “did it,” only his level of culpability.

“He never intended Billy Clark to die,” Bramble said. “They were friends, and Donald never meant to kill Billy Clark.”

Silverthorne issued a simple apology to the court and the Clark family.

Jenkins opted to sentence Silverthorne in the aggravated range in lieu of the original charge of second-degree murder, based on the fact that the crime was “especially heinous, atrocious or cruel,” as the defendant “didn’t do anything to check up on (Billy Clark) or anything else,” Jenkins said.

Silverthorne was sentenced to a minimum of 26 months in the Department of Corrections system, a maximum of 32 months, and ordered to pay restitution for the court-appointed services of Bramble, as well as $1,951 to North Carolina Victim Compensation Services, a service provided by the Department of Public Safety to reimburse innocent victims who have suffered medical expenses and lost wages as a result of a crime.