A 72-year-old man on trial for murder pleaded guilty Tuesday in Hennepin County District Court, admitting to fatally shooting his roommate in December.
Charles Raymond Thomas entered the plea agreement with amended charges of first-degree manslaughter intentionally causing a death in the heat of passion. He was initially charged with second-degree intentional murder in the killing of Willie James Hobbs, 57, in their north Minneapolis residence on the 3100 block of Dupont Avenue N.
With the plea deal, Thomas agreed to serve a prison sentence of anywhere between 7 to 9 years. District Judge William Koch will announce his sentencing decision Oct. 3.
Defense attorney Hersch Izek said that Thomas should have been charged with manslaughter from the get-go, but it wasn't until trial that prosecutors were willing to offer the deal to a lesser charge.
"We see it all the time, cases being overcharged," Izek said in a phone interview Wednesday . "It's forcing somebody to give up their trial rights in order to accept a plea and lesser time. It's almost a threat."
In a statement, Hennepin County Attorney's office spokesperson Nicholas Kimball called Hobbs' killing "A tragic situation from the beginning, with a dispute between former friends that went way too far, turned violent, and ended tragically due to Mr. Thomas' actions.
"The evidence that Mr Thomas shot an unarmed victim four times, without a viable self-defense claim, supported the original charge but we believe this outcome holds the defendant appropriately accountable for his conduct," Kimball said.
Izek said his client is elderly, in poor health and has no criminal history. Leading up to the day of the incident, the roommates were in conflict and he said that Hobbs was demanding money and alcohol and allegedly pushed Thomas down the stairs the day of the killing.
