Nearly 10 years after a slaying over south Minneapolis drug turf, an alleged killer pleaded guilty this week to second-degree murder charges following a complicated series of events that included a conviction, a reversal and a second conviction before it was again considered by the Minnesota Supreme Court.

Jonathan "Thirsty" Turner, 27, decided to enter his guilty plea May 22 in Hennepin County District Court, just before the state high court was to issue a decision on whether he could be granted a second trial in the July 2003 slaying of Marcus Dortch.

In exchange for his plea, Turner got a 30-year prison sentence. He received credit for more than four years of time served following an initial first-degree murder conviction in 2010 for the slaying, for which he was serving a life term. That conviction was overturned after a witness was found to have lied on the stand.

Turner was charged after the slaying of Dortch, who was talking to two women near the intersection of Oakland Avenue S. and E. 22nd Street. Turner, who prosecutors say was a high-ranking Vice Lords gang member, and another suspect allegedly leapt from bushes and shot Dortch repeatedly. One bullet passed through Dortch and grazed one of the women.

Within two weeks, a second man, Javon Spencer, was shot while sitting in his car on Park Avenue S. between E. Franklin Avenue and E. 22nd Street. Turner was tried twice in the Spencer murder, the first time resulting in a hung jury and the second time resulting in the conviction that was overturned.

The Hennepin County attorney's office tried Turner again for both slayings, and in July 2010 he was convicted of the Dortch killing. However, he appealed to the state Supreme Court "with some reasonable grounds that the conviction could be overturned," according to a news release from the county attorney. Instead, Turner pleaded guilty to the lesser charge and the appeal was dismissed.

Abby Simons • 612-673-4921