LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Two suspected gang members have pleaded no contest to manslaughter charges for the beating deaths of two Lincoln men last year.

Twenty-year-old Ricky McLaughlin III and 23-year-old Tyler Thornburg took plea deals Monday to reduce their second-degree murder charges. The men admitted to the use of a deadly weapon in the assaults of 20-year-old Nathan “Shane” Walton and 27-year-old David Mueller.

Prosecutors say the assailants are gang members who used a baseball bat to beat random victims to make a name for their gang.

Walton was found beaten near his home on June 29, 2013. Muller was found that same morning north of downtown Lincoln. Both men died from their wounds days later at an area hospital.