A Mississippi woman will serve 40 years in prison after pleading guilty to second-degree murder for an October 2018 shooting death.

Victoria Slayton of Caledonia entered the plea Thursday before Lowndes County Circuit Judge Lee Howard, The Commercial Dispatch reported. Because the charge is murder, she will not be eligible for early release.

Slayton and co-defendant Malcolm Hill had been charged with capital murder in the killing of Markcus Maurice Pate, 34, whose body was found in his apartment in Columbus. At the time, District Attorney Scott Colom said Pate was shot in the back of the head. Slayton and Hill were arrested within days of the killing.

Investigators said Slayton and Hill knew the victim and conspired to steal drugs from him when the killing occurred, making it a capital offense.

At the time of her arrest, Slayton was on parole from the Mississippi Department of Corrections for charges of forgery and sale of a controlled substance in Lowndes County.

Hill has pleaded not guilty and is scheduled to go on trial May 16.