A 24-year-old Eastpointe man was sentenced last week to 18 years in prison after pleading guilty to second-degree murder for the shooting death of a 26-year-old Van Buren Township man nearly two years ago.

Matthew Torrey Tiggs Jr. also was sentenced to 10 to 20 years in prison for attempted murder by Wayne County Circuit Judge Kelly Ramsey for wounding a 47-year-old man two days after the murder in the same mobile home.

Tiggs was facing an Aug. 25 trial when he entered the pleas last month and was sentenced Wednesday.

Tiggs shot Jean Thomas Butchart multiple times, including a shot to his head, at about 5 p.m. Aug. 4, 2023 in the 16800 block of Lohr Road in Van Buren Estates mobile home park in the area of Bemis and Rawsonville roads, near Belleville, where he was pulling weeds on his first day on the job as a maintenance worker, according to a media report. Butchart had transitioned to male and had a female legal name, but the incident appeared to be unrelated to that, officials said.

Two days later, while Van Buren Township police said they were in the park investigating the murder, they received multiple calls from residents reporting shots fired in the 40 block of Birch Drive in the same mobile home community. They found a 47-year-old resident suffering from gunshots to the right upper arm and lower back. Police said Tiggs approached that victim in a vehicle, pulled out a gun and fired it several times.

Tiggs then allegedly barricaded himself inside the next-door residence, police said. He was taken into custody following a two-hour standoff with the Western Wayne SWAT team.

Officials learned that a week before the murder, at about 11:30 a.m. July 28, 2023, Tiggs got into a verbal argument with a 45-year-old resident in the 30 block of Birch Drive in the park. Tiggs allegedly pulled out a firearm and pointed it at the victim before running away, police said.

As part of a plea deal with Wayne County prosecutors, four firearm-possession charges and a charge of assault with a dangerous weapon were dismissed.

He also pleaded guilty to two counts of felony firearm possession for which he will serve two years in addition to the 18-year term. He receives nearly two years of credit against the sentences. The murder and attempted murder sentences will be served simultaneously.

Tiggs’ attorney, Gabi Silver, declined to comment.

Tiggs was previously arrested in January 2019 for carrying a concealed a weapon in Roseville, according to court records. He pleaded guilty and was sentenced to time served, 57 days, and two years probation. He violated probation and his youth status under the Holmes Youthful Trainee Act was revoked, and he was discharged “without improvement” in 2021.

Butchart, who was born in Ypsilanti, was survived by his parents and two sisters, and was known for his love of the natural world, as he was nicknamed “Nature Boy” by many of his friends, according to his obituary. He earned a bachelor of science degree in environmental studies with an emphasis in hydrology.