ALFRED – A Sanford man has pleaded innocent to manslaughter in connection with the shooting death of his roommate.

Dallas Sizemore, 21, is accused of cocking and pulling the trigger of a 12-gauge shotgun that Scott Vermette, 18, had placed inside his own mouth.

In York County Superior Court on Wednesday, Judge Paul Fritzsche ordered that Sizemore’s bail be kept at $50,000.

The Jan. 15 shooting occurred in the two-unit Sanford apartment house where Sizemore and Vermette lived with seven other people. Sizemore turned himself in to authorities after a weeklong investigation.

Stephen Schwartz, his lawyer, characterized the shooting as a tragic accident, saying Sizemore did not know the gun was loaded when he pulled the trigger.

Sizemore, who is being held in the York County Jail, faces a prison sentence of up to 40 years if convicted of manslaughter.