A man charged with second-degree murder turned down a plea arrangement with the state in favor of a trial by his peers in Beaufort County Superior Court.

Tuesday, Donald Gray Silverthorne, of Grimesland, declined the State’s deal reducing the charge against him to voluntary manslaughter and, instead, will go to trial in April, charged with second-degree murder in the death of Billy Ray Clark, formerly of Sticks Road in Washington.

“You certainly have a right to a trial by a jury of 12 peers, but you realize after today you won’t be able to accept this offer?” Superior Court Judge Wayland Sermons Jr. asked Silverthorne.

Both defense attorney John Bramble and Assistant District Attorney Chad Stoop agreed to an April 28, 2014 trial date.

According to the initial press release from the Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office, Silverthorne was arrested on Aug. 30, 2010, after being indicted by a Beaufort County Grand Jury on Aug. 23. The arrest came 10 months after Clark had been found motionless in the yard at Silverthorne’s Grimesland home. According to law enforcement officials, a neighbor found Clark in the front yard along the fence line separating 171 and 179 Clarks Court around 7:30 a.m. on Oct. 20, 2009. Clark was lying on the ground dressed in jeans and no shirt, and had been outside overnight on a night when the temperature dropped below 40 degrees.

EMS personnel transported Clark to Beaufort County Hospital, then later to Pitt Memorial Hospital, where he died. An autopsy determined Clark died from complications of blunt force trauma to the head, exacerbated by hypothermia. The blunt force trauma occurred during an assault, according to the press release. “Investigation indicated that Clark was struck by Silverthorne with his hands,” said Major Kenneth Watson, spokesman for the sheriff’s office.

Alcohol use, by both the victim and defendant, was a factor in the incident leading to Clark’s death, Watson said.