3 plead guilty in killing of 13-year-old Detroit boy over $70

DETROIT -- Three people have pleaded guilty in the death of a 13-year-old Detroit boy who prosecutors say was beaten and choked after he picked up about $70 that was dropped in May outside a convenience store.

Gregory Walker, Lillian Roberts and Ernest Coleman entered pleas in the death of Deontae Mitchell on Wednesday in a Detroit courtroom. Sentencing is Nov. 9.

The Detroit News reports that Walker pleaded to charges including second-degree murder and kidnapping with a sentencing agreement of 40-60 years in prison while Roberts pleaded to second-degree murder and kidnapping with an agreement of 24-40 years.

Ernest Coleman pleaded to charges including torture and unlawful imprisonment. He could face more than 15 years in prison.

The boy’s cousin told police he disappeared a short time after he picked up the money dropped by a “drunk man” May 31 outside Nino’s, a store near where the two had been riding their bikes. The next day, police released a surveillance video showing the child being pursued by a man, grabbed, and forced into a car.

Prosecutors say Walker killed Mitchell with help from Roberts and Coleman. Deontae’s body was found in a vacant lot days later.

According to CBS Detroit, a witness said in court he’d been shopping at Nino’s the night of the murder and saw Walker outside the store armed with a pistol.

“As I left out of the store, I see the gentleman here pull up in a black car, pull a gun out and say: ‘I’m tired of these young (expletive) out here,’” the witness said. “And he raised the gun and he fired a shot off.”

He reportedly identified Walker as the shooter, but said he did not see Mitchell and could not tell if there was anyone else with Walker in the car.