A Cecil County man whose girlfriend died three days after he punched her in the side during an argument has been sentenced to seven years in prison.
Twenty-four-year-old David Allen Barton of North East, who pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter in April, must also pay more than $11,000 in restitution to the family of 23-year-old Tracey Weichert. Barton was sentenced on Monday.
Prosecutors say on April 23, 2010, after Barton punched Weichert, she became ill. Two days later, Barton's father drove the couple to a local hospital. Weichert was transferred to a Delaware hospital, where she died on April 26, 2010.
Prosecutors say doctors concluded that blunt force trauma had ruptured Weichert's spleen.