A 19-year-old man has admitted to fatally shooting another man during an altercation inside a Frogtown home.

Theotis A. Thomas of St. Paul pleaded guilty Tuesday to second-degree murder and terroristic threats in connection with the March 15 killing of 21-year-old Mark Franklin Jr. in a home in the 600 block of Elfelt Street.

The County Attorney's Office said it will argue for Thomas to be sentenced to a term of more than 36 years, with roughly the first 24 years served in prison followed by supervised release. Sentencing is scheduled for Aug. 28.

According to several witnesses cited in the criminal complaint:

Thomas grabbed his girlfriend's neck during an argument, prompting Franklin to slam Thomas down on a bed. Thomas vowed to return to the home with a gun, and he left.

Thomas returned, yelled at Franklin and fired one shot into a wall.

Franklin yelled "put the gun down" before Thomas shot him in the left eye. People in the home drove Franklin to Regions Hospital, where he died.

Thomas turned himself in later that day and said he was "too drunk and stoned to recall" what happened, the complaint read.

As a juvenile, Thomas was convicted of second-degree assault in connection with stealing a woman's purse and knifing a man who tried to keep Thomas from fleeing.

Paul Walsh