Former NCAA basketball star Keith Appling pleads guilty to 2021 murder

Former Michigan State University basketball player Keith Appling pleaded guilty in connection with a 2021 homicide, CBS Detroit reported. 

On Monday, the 31-year-old Appling pled guilty to second-degree murder and a felony weapons charge, CBS Detroit reported. He faces 18 to 40 years in prison for the murder charge and two years for the firearm charge. Appling is set to be sentenced on March 3. 

Appling was accused of killing 66-year-old Clyde Edmonds, whose wife is the first cousin of Appling's mother, during a dispute over a gun in May 2021, CBS Detroit reported. Appling fled the scene after shooting Edmonds multiple times, prosecutors said. 

Appling's former girlfriend, 30-year-old Natalie Bannister, was sentenced to 18 months probation after pleading guilty to lying to a police officer in July 2022, CBS Detroit reported. 

A former star athlete, Appling started 154 games and scored 1,509 points during his four-year career with the Spartans, CBS Sports reported in 2021. He played five games in the NBA for the Orlando Magic in 2016. 

At the time he was charged, Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy said Appling's downward spiral was "tragic."

"It has been clear that this man has been spiraling downward for some time," Worthy said. "Many of those that tried to intervene with this defendant were hoping that he would get on the right track and stay there. It is always tragic when one with so much promise, talent, and possibility is alleged to have committed the most serious of crimes."