PORTLAND (AP) – State prosecutors plan to drop manslaughter charges against three teenagers accused of last summer’s fatal beating of a Westbrook man.

Wade DePalma and Nicholas Lavigne, both 19 and from Westbrook, and Alexander Layug, 18, of Portland, pleaded not guilty Thursday to lesser charges of aggravated assault and are slated to go on trial Feb. 6.

The three had been charged with manslaughter in the death of Douglas Edward Wilcox, 33, who died four days after being involved in a fight with the three men in Westbrook, police said. Lawyers for the three say they acted in self-defense.

William Wilcox Sr., the father of the dead man, was unhappy about the reduced charge. “They beat my boy and put him in hospital and he died and that’s the way it is,” Wilcox said.

The Wilcox family contends that Douglas Wilcox’s skull was fractured by a two-by-four. However, police said they believe that only hands and feet were used in the assault.

The new charge carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison. Manslaughter carries a penalty of up to 30 years in prison.

James Bushell, the attorney representing Layug, said after Thursday’s court session: “I always thought from the beginning that the appropriate charge should have been aggravated assault.”

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Information from: Portland Press Herald, https://www.pressherald.com

AP-ES-01-13-06 1951EST