A 28-year-old St. Cloud man was sentenced to 40 years in prison for his role in the death of a man at a St. Cloud nightclub in December 2019.

Christopher L. Johnson was convicted of second-degree murder in March.

On Monday, a Stearns County District Court judge sentenced Johnson to 480 months with credit for 572 days served.

Johnson is one of two defendants sentenced in the stabbing death of 29-year-old Unity McGill.

Johnson's brother, Lawrence M. Johnson of St. Cloud, was sentenced in March to more than 34 years in prison.

Bryant J. Stephenson of St. Cloud was also charged with two felony counts of second-degree murder for his role in the death. A jury trial is scheduled to start Aug. 23.

According to court documents, the three men assaulted an unidentified man about 1 a.m. on Dec. 29, 2019, inside the Red Carpet Nightclub in downtown St. Cloud.

Surveillance video shows McGill touching Lawrence Johnson on the shoulder, prompting him to punch McGill and McGill to punch back.

Bouncers removed the three defendants from the bar, but they re-entered a short time later.

Just before 1:30 a.m., the three men attacked McGill on the dance floor.

About three minutes after the fight began, McGill can be seen collapsing out the front door. He was pronounced dead at 3:20 a.m. at St. Cloud Hospital.

An autopsy found McGill had nonlethal blunt-force trauma to the head and multiple stab wounds in his chest, abdomen and back.

The medical examiner ruled the cause of death was excessive bleeding.

Jenny Berg