HOLYOKE, Mass. (WGGB/WSHM) - The suspect charged in connection to the deadly shooting at the Holyoke Mall in 2023 has plead guilty to involuntary manslaughter.

Western Mass News was in court with a camera rolling Thursday morning as Kenneth Santana-Rodriguez appeared before a Judge.

During the hearing in Hampden Superior Court in Springfield, Santana-Rodriguez plead guilty to a charge of involuntary manslaughter in the death of 33-year-old, Trung “Michael” Tran.

Tran worked at Touch of Beauty Hair and Nail Salon inside the mall and was an innocent bystander in the incident.

It happened on the evening of January 28, 2023. Police believe Tran had been attending to Santana-Rodriguez when another individual, known to Santana-Rodriguez, came into the salon.

That’s when a confrontation began between the two and at one point the situation escalated with Santana-Rodriguez firing a gun. Trans was hit and died on scene from the gunshot wound he sustained.

Police responded and arrested Santana-Rodriguez in the salon. They say he was armed when they arrived.

[WATCH: Video of the scene, Arraignment in deadly Holyoke Mall shooting ]

Following his arraignment in Holyoke District Court and subsequent indictment on murder in the first degree by a Hampden Superior Court grand jury, the case wound up before the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court with Santana-Rodriguez and his attorneys arguing in favor of a lesser charge saying he fired the gun in self-defense.

The state’s highest court in October 2025 ruled in favor of that argument, saying he could use that defense “...Unless the Commonwealth can prove that the act was reckless...the only possible conviction is involuntary manslaughter, not murder.”

[ READ MORE: Court rules Holyoke Mall shooting suspect can claim self-defense ]

Now, less than a year after that ruling, Santana-Rodriguez whose been in jail since the shooting, has plead guilty to involuntary manslaughter in the death of Tran.

He was sentenced to 3 to 5 years in state prison.

Coming up at 4 p.m. on ABC40 Western Mass News will detail exactly what happened in court Thursday. Tune in

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