2008 Woodie Awards
Athens teen pleads guilty in killing of friend
Associated Press
Issue date: 7/2/08 Section: News
ATHENS, Tenn. (AP) _ An Athens teenager has accepted a plea agreement in the fatal shooting of a friend while involved in illegal drug selling.
Nineteen-year-old Brandon Kendrick will serve 25 years without parole in the killing of 17-year-old Zack Webb last July.
Prosecutors said Kendrick shot Webb three times in the head while selling crack cocaine.
The plea deal to second-degree murder lets Kendrick avoid a first-degree murder trial which could have brought him life in prison, if convicted.
Assistant prosecutor Andrew Freiberg said first-degree murder would have been difficult for the state to prove.
He also said the fact that it occurred during the selling of drugs could play either way to a jury.
Nineteen-year-old Brandon Kendrick will serve 25 years without parole in the killing of 17-year-old Zack Webb last July.
Prosecutors said Kendrick shot Webb three times in the head while selling crack cocaine.
The plea deal to second-degree murder lets Kendrick avoid a first-degree murder trial which could have brought him life in prison, if convicted.
Assistant prosecutor Andrew Freiberg said first-degree murder would have been difficult for the state to prove.
He also said the fact that it occurred during the selling of drugs could play either way to a jury.
Be the first to comment on this story