BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (AP) — The man charged in the stabbing death of a Kern County assistant district attorney struck a deal with prosecutors and faces 12 years in prison after pleading guilty to voluntary manslaughter.

Chris Hillis, 48, told The Bakersfield Californian before his hearing that he stabbed Stephen Tauzer in a rage after the veteran prosecutor acknowledged having a sexual relationship with Hillis’ late son, Lance.

Hillis had previously been charged with first-degree murder in the death of Tauzer, whose body was found with a knife sticking out of his head on the weekend of Sept. 13, 2002.

Hillis accepted the deal from state prosecutors handling the case in Kern County Superior Court.

State prosecutor David Druliner said he did not have a first-degree murder case, since it was clear the slaying was not planned but done “in a burning rage.”

Hillis’ 22-year-old son was a drug abuser who had lived with Tauzer on a number of occasions. Authorities say Tauzer, 57, had provided Lance Hillis with shelter, money and legal help until the younger Hillis’ death in a traffic accident on Aug. 7, 2002.

At a preliminary hearing in the case, witnesses testified that Tauzer and Chris Hillis disagreed about how to handle Lance’s drug problems. Tauzer had urged drug treatment for Lance rather than a jail sentence, which Chris Hillis had said his son needed to kick his drug habit.

The case gained increased attention following the Californian’s publication of its “Lords of Bakersfield” series, which attempted to link Tauzer’s death with rumors that the city was for decades home to a ring of powerful, closeted gay men who preyed on underage boys.

Several of the men rumored to be involved were killed between 1978 and 1984, and in many cases the young boys were charged in their deaths.

Investigators had previously testified that DNA evidence found on a knife near Tauzer’s body and on a beer bottle inside the home linked Chris Hillis to the crime scene.

In a statement, Kern County District Attorney Ed Jagels said Tauzer’s family also approved the plea deal.