A 26-year-old Jemison man was sentenced to 11 years in prison last week for the 2002 Shelby County traffic fatality of a 62-year-old Decatur woman.

Jeremy Lee Ray, 26, of Jemison, was charged with murder, second-degree assault and driving under the influence after the 2002 incident.

Last week, Shelby County Circuit Judge J. Michael Joiner sentenced Ray after he pleaded guilty to manslaughter, reduced from a DUI murder charge.

On

Saturday, Nov. 30, 2002, officers arrested Ray after an accident that resulted in the death of Ramona B. Prater, 62, of Decatur.

Shelby County District Attorney Robby Owens filed the charges in 2002 against Ray in connection with a two-vehicle accident on Interstate-65 about one mile south of Calera.

Prater was killed in the 12:40 p.m. wreck, according to State Trooper Brent Thomas. He said she was a passenger in a 2000 Chevrolet driven by her husband, Clarence Prater, who was also injured.

Ray was driving a 1987 Honda, according to court records. The Jemison man was held in the Shelby County Jail on $210,000 bond, according to the Shelby County Sheriff’s Department