OAKLAND — An Antioch man has been sentenced to six years in state prison for killing his sister and her boyfriend in what his lawyer called an attempt to defend her gone horribly wrong.

Horatio Lawrence II, 24, pleaded no contest to a single count of manslaughter in connection with the Sept. 19, 2021 shooting that killed 34-year-old Eric Brown and 31-year-old Arnika Barriga. A prominent theory of the case is that Lawrence accidentally killed Barriga while attempting to defend her from Brown during a domestic violence incident, court records show.

After killing both victims, Lawrence fled the area and disposed of the gun he used, police said at the time.

Lawrence was initially charged with two counts of murder. Those charges were dropped as part of the plea deal, which was agreed to in October and finalized last November. He was transferred to state prison last December, and is currently housed at the California Rehabilitation Center in Norco, court records show.

Lawrence was given a little more than three years credit for the time he served in jail between his arrest in late 2021 and when the case was resolved, court records show. His lawyer, Ernie Castillo, said in a statement that the family, Lawrence included, has been “been through a lot in life” since it happened.

“But everyone understands that Horatio came to his sister’s defense to protect her from an ongoing domestic situation,” Castillo said. “We are all just glad he’s coming home soon.”