A Washington-state teen is pleading guilty to the murder of a World War II veteran whom he attacked in 2013 during what he claims was a drug deal, the New York Post reports.
Kenan Adams-Kinard, 17, changed his plea to guilty on Wednesday in Spokane County Superior Court on his charge of first-degree murder in the death of veteran Delbert “Shorty” Belton, the news site notes. The plea change was arranged as part of a deal in which Kenan’s robbery charges will be dropped. He faces a possible 20 to 27 years in prison, according to the Post.
According to the report, Belton, 88, died the day after he was beaten up by the teen and his alleged partner in crime, Demetrius Glenn, in August 2013. The two young men were 16 at the time. Kenan claimed that he “was trying to buy an ounce of crack cocaine from Shorty and Shorty tried ripping him off,” according to a witness account described in a police affidavit, so he punched the elderly man and took back his money. A police spokesman was quoted last year saying that there was no evidence that the vet was in the business of dealing drugs.
Both teens were charged with first-degree murder, first-degree robbery and first-degree conspiracy to commit robbery, with both pleading not guilty at first, the Post notes.
Demetrius, whose trial is scheduled to begin Jan. 12, has not changed his plea.
Read more at the New York Post.