Ebony Sonnier takes plea bargain during murder trial's first break, gets 40 years

Ebony Nicole Sonnier decided to take a plea bargain Thursday during the first break in her first-degree murder trial.

Sonnier, 36, pleaded no contest to two reduced charges of manslaughter and one felony count of being an accessory after the fact. She was sentenced to 40 years in prison on each manslaughter charge, which is the maximum, and five years on the accessory charge.

She had faced two counts of first-degree murder and one felony count of being an accessory after the fact.

She and her brother, Matthew Sonnier, were arrested not long after the bodies of three people were found in two different places in Rapides Parish on Oct. 18, 2017.

The bodies of Jeremy Deon Norris, 28, and 33-year-old Kendrick Dwann Horn were found wrapped in a pool liner that had been dumped in a ditch on Old Boyce Road outside Alexandria, and the liner was set on fire, police said.

Latish Renee White, 42, was stabbed and dumped out of a car onto Melrose Street in Pineville.

Rapides Parish:1 day, 4 bodies, 3 investigations

February plea bargain:Matthew Sonnier gets 3 consecutive life sentences in 2017 deaths

Both siblings faced the death penalty until Matthew Sonnier accepted a plea bargain in February. He was sentenced to three life sentences, and the death penalty against his sister was dropped.

A no-contest plea means the defendant isn't admitting guilt but agrees to accept punishment. According to Rapides Parish Clerk of Court records, the victims' families agreed to the plea bargain.