A 25-year-old man, who was sentenced Monday to serve three years’ probation for his role in deadly fist fight, agreed to seek out community service projects related to autism. The victim, 22-year-old Christopher A. Kutchell of Butler, had an autism diagnosis.

Kutchell died following a May 3, 2012, altercation outside the then-home of defendant Andrew Freshwater in the 400 block of Virginia Avenue in Butler’s Island neighborhood.

According to court records, Freshwater twice punched Kutchell in the jaw, causing him to fall backward. Kutchell’s head hit the concrete sidewalk. He died later at Butler Memorial Hospital of a fractured skull.

Freshwater pleaded no contest to involuntary manslaughter.

Initially, Freshwater also was charged with reckless endangerment and the felony charge of aggravated assault. However, those charges were dropped in exchange for his plea.

Under state law, involuntary manslaughter is the least severe of the homicide offenses, a misdemeanor. A person commits involuntary manslaughter if another person dies as a result of a “reckless or grossly negligent” act. It is not a murder.

A no contest plea implies the defendant is not acknowledging guilt, but rather is choosing not to fight the allegation at a trial. Still, the plea is given the same weight as a guilty plea for the purpose of sentencing.

During his hearing, Freshwater said he was sorry about Kutchell’s death which he referred to as both a “terrible tragedy” and an “accident.”

In addition to the probation and 200 hours of community service, Freshwater was ordered to pay more than $10,000 in restitution to the victim’s family and a state fund that compensates crime victims.