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AKRON, Ohio (AP) — A DJ at an Ohio bar will serve four years in prison for the fatal beating of a man who had complained that the music was too loud.
Robert Jarvis, of Akron, was sentenced Wednesday in Summit County Common Pleas Court for the death of Forrest Ryan, 43, of North Canton. At the sentencing, Judge Todd McKenney said Jarvis didn't intend to kill Ryan in the bar fight.
Jarvis' attorney, Mike Callahan, called the fight an "aberration" and said he would seek early prison release for Jarvis after six months.
Megan Frantz Oldham, an attorney for Ryan's family, said the family is disappointed with the sentence and plans to file a wrongful death lawsuit.
Prosecutors say the two men got into an argument Jan. 8 over the volume of the music that Jarvis was playing at the Zodiac bar in Akron. They say surveillance video showed Jarvis later sought out Ryan in another part of the bar and punched him three times in the head.
Assistant Prosecutor Greg Peacock said the altercation appeared to be unprovoked, the Akron Beacon Journal reported.
"It might not have been his intention to kill, but he made the conscious decision to inflict harm," Peacock said.
Jarvis, 65, was a teacher for three decades, including 10 as a special education teacher in Medina County. He pleaded guilty in a plea deal last month to involuntary manslaughter, a first-degree felony, and faced up to 11 years in prison.
Ryan's family wanted Jarvis to receive the maximum prison term. Samantha Ryan said in a letter that her father was her best friend and will miss milestones in her life, including teaching her to drive and walking her down the aisle at her wedding.
"Everything has changed because of how that man killed my daddy," she said.
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