A 26-year-old man pleaded guilty Tuesday to fatally stabbing another man at a south Minneapolis light-rail station last year after an argument broke out between his family and the victim, authorities said.

Anthony Bowker, who was homeless at the time, pleaded guilty in county court to second-degree murder in the Dec. 6 death of Gerald W. Davis at the Lake Street station, according to authorities. Bowker is expected to be sentenced Nov. 9 to 25 years in prison for the crime, the Hennepin County attorney's office said.

"This resolution and lengthy sentence brings a measure of justice and finality to all involved, including the community," county attorney Mike Freeman said Tuesday.

Bowker, who testified in court about his bouts with mental illness, was arrested two days after the slaying at a downtown Minneapolis homeless shelter.

Prosecutors say Bowker followed Davis onto the platform after words were exchanged between Davis and Bowker's father, brother and an unidentified third man.

"About 1:30 p.m. that day, one of his family members told Bowker that a man had threatened the family member," the release said. "That upset him and since he was carrying a knife he decided to go after Davis, Bowker acknowledged."

Video from the platform's surveillance cameras showed Bowker storming after Davis, briefly chasing the 58-year-old around the platform before stabbing him several times with a switchblade, court documents said.

Police arrived to find Davis at the base of the station's north platform, with stab wounds to his neck and left shoulder, and a long gash from his left collarbone to his left lung, the documents say. He died the same day at Hennepin County Medical Center.

Libor Jany • 612-673-4064