COLOMBUS, Ohio — A Schofield Barracks soldier convicted of fatally shooting an Iraqi cattle herder has been released from an Oklahoma military prison almost a year early, his attorney said.

Army Spec. Edward Richmond Jr., 22, of Gonzales, La., was convicted of voluntary manslaughter and sentenced in August 2004 to three years in prison for the April 28, 2004, shooting death of Muhamad Husain Kadir in the village of Taal Al Jal, about 40 miles southwest of Kirkuk. Investigators said he shot the cowherd in the back of the head. Richmond was assigned to Headquarters Company, 1st Battalion, 27th Infantry Regiment.

Richmond has been released on parole, his attorney said Friday.

"He told me this morning it feels good to be free," said Richmond's father, Edward Richmond Sr.

The shooting was one of two of Iraqi civilians during a 10-day period by members of the same unit.

Richmond Jr. said he shot Kadir because he thought Kadir had lunged at the soldier who was holding him, Sgt. Jeffrey D. Waruch of Olean, N.Y., and that he wasn't aware Kadir's hands were bound.

Waruch, who was with the 1st Battalion, 27th Infantry Regiment, was accused in the other shooting, in which a 13-year-old girl was killed and her mother and sister wounded. Waruch was discharged without being charged with a crime. Army officials determined it was unlikely they would find sufficient evidence against him.

Both shootings were examined by the Dayton Daily News last year.

The Ohio newspaper reported that dozens of soldiers have been accused of crimes against Iraqis since the first troops deployed for Iraq, but that despite strong evidence and convictions in some cases, only a small percentage resulted in punishments.