Police were called to the home of Corey Ross at 418 2nd Avenue Southeast on September 11th, where they found Ronnie Silas dead.

Ross was charged with Aggravated Assault–a Class 3 felony–and pleaded guilty December 18th.

Codington County State’s Attorney Alison Bakken says Ross and Silas were drinking heavily the night of the incident. At some point, Ross became, “blackout drunk,” got upset with Silas for drinking too much of his alcohol, and beat him.

He then dragged Silas by the ankles to another part of the home where he left him lying on his side.

An autopsy later showed Silas died of positional asphyxia.

Bakken says Ross’s blood alcohol content the day after the incident was still at .195.

She says Silas had been dead for about 12 hours before his body was discovered.

Ross was given credit for 161 days spent in the Codingt0n County Detention Center.