Jacob M. Agee wiped his eyes with tissues after he finished the half-hour hearing. He was scheduled to be tried for aggravated murder and other felonies Monday.
Assistant Montgomery County prosecutors and public defenders agreed Agee would plead to a reduced charge of murder and to single counts of aggravated robbery and aggravated burglary. The agreement limited the range of Agee's sentence to a minimum between 21 and 28 years in prison. The maximum he could spend is life.
Judge Jeffrey E. Froelich scheduled sentencing for April 22.
In December, a three-judge panel, including Froelich, convicted Agee's co-defendant, 19-year-old Bryan Keith Singleton, on charges of aggravated murder and other felonies, sparing him the death penalty that prosecutors had sought, but ensuring that he would be at least 79 years old before he would be eligible for parole.
Both teens were convicted in the fatal shooting of Margaret "Peggy" Chain, a store manager at the Sunoco Mini Mart at Ohio 741 and Alex-Bell Road.
Prosecutors contended Agee, who was suspended from West Carrollton High School at the time, provided a loaded double-barreled derringer, test-fired it and then gave it to Singleton, who pressed it against Chain's head and fired twice.
Assistant county prosecutors Angela Frydman and Leon J. Daidone declined comment. Relatives of Mrs. Chain also declined comment until after Agee is sentenced. Assistant public defenders Carl G. Goraleski and Anthony R. Cicero were not available for comment after the hearing.
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