A Charleston teenager who has been in jail since October 2015 on a charge of first-degree murder stemming from a Charleston shooting death pleaded guilty Friday to voluntary manslaughter.
Darius L. Coles, 19, shot Dominic Clark, 24, several times in the back in the 500 block of Ohio Avenue on the city's West Side, prosecutors said Friday.
Clark, whose body was found in an alley, was walking to a taxi when he was shot, according to assistant Kanawha prosecutor J.C. MacCallum.
Witnesses to the shooting pointed to Coles, the prosecutor said, and he was arrested and charged with first-degree murder nearly a week later after he showed up at the Charleston police station with his lawyer.
When Kanawha Circuit Judge Tod Kaufman sentences Coles on April 24, prosecutors will ask for the maximum sentence, which is 15 years, MacCallum said after Friday's hearing.
The prosecutor told Kaufman on Friday that he believes they could convict Coles of murder, but noted the many variables that can come up during trial.
Ed Rebrook, Coles' lawyer, could ask the judge to consider Coles' age and sentence him to a program for youthful offenders.
Members of Clark's family, who attended the hearing Friday, were aware of the prosecutors' offer to Coles before the hearing, MacCallum said.
"We had constant contact. Obviously they are upset with the whole situation," he said.
Reach Kate White at kate.white@wvgazettemail.com, 304-348-1723 or follow @KateLWhite on Twitter.