FORT WAYNE – Originally charged with murder in the June 2011 death of William J. Fett Jr., Anthony S. Tate pleaded guilty Friday in Allen Superior Court to a charge of assisting a criminal.

Tate, 23, of the 2700 block of South Anthony Boulevard, admitted to hindering the prosecution of Paul D. Prater Jr., who pleaded guilty in November to voluntary manslaughter. The charge of assisting a criminal is a Class C felony and was added to the case Friday as a second count.

The pair were arrested at Fett’s apartment covered in blood but without injuries. Police were called to the apartment at 5752 Ullyot Drive just before 3 a.m. June 2, 2011, on a disturbance call.

As they approached the apartment, they saw someone looking through the blinds, court documents said. No one came to the door, and police could see blood on the windows, according to court documents.

Police forced their way into the apartment after seeing through the windows what later turned out to be a bloodied Fett lying on the floor, according to court documents.

Prater and Tate were the only ones in the apartment, and a bloody hammer was found in the laundry room, according to court documents.

Fett was taken to a hospital in critical condition with severe head trauma. He died the next day, with the pathologist saying that someone struck him in the head about 20 times, according to court documents.

In exchange for Tate’s guilty plea, prosecutors will drop the murder charge at sentencing. There is no arrangement with prosecutors about any potential sentence Tate could face when he is sentenced next month. A Class C felony is punishable by two to eight years in prison.

Prater was sentenced to 30 years in prison last November on the manslaughter charge. He will serve five years’ probation after his release. Prater is in the Indiana State Prison with a projected release date of May 2026.

Indiana inmates are given one day of credit for each day of good behavior, potentially cutting their sentences in half.

rgreen@jg.net