PRINCETON, W.Va. (AP) - A man has agreed to plead guilty to first-degree murder in the 2014 killing of his estranged wife.
The Bluefield Daily Telegraph (https://bit.ly/2iEtgLv ) says prosecutor George Sitler told a judge Tuesday that 27-year-old Michael Neel, of Bluefield, will plead guilty during a Jan. 19 hearing.
Sitler says the state has agreed to a sentence with mercy, meaning Neel could be eligible for parole within 15 years. There is no guarantee Neel would be paroled.
Neel is accused of killing 20-year-old Kayla Neel and shooting her friend Dakota Walls while they were sitting in a truck in December 2014. A judge declared a mistrial in August after jurors were deadlocked on murder and attempted murder charges. Michael Neel said the shooting was accidental.
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Information from: Bluefield Daily Telegraph, https://www.bdtonline.com
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