Cody Nelson, 17, who fatally shot 16-year-old Darion J. Smith in late November during a game of Russian roulette, has pleaded guilty in Ramsey County juvenile court.
Nelson pleaded guilty to first-degree manslaughter as part of a plea agreement that calls for him to spend "an indeterminate time" in a juvenile facility and be on supervised probation until he is 21. The agreement also uses the threat of an adult prison sentence to keep Nelson on the straight and narrow, the county attorney's office said.
Smith was killed the morning of Nov. 26 at a home on E. Maryland Avenue in St. Paul. Both he and the shooter were students at Central High School.
In the hours before the shooting, Nelson, Smith, Daniel Cornell and others had been playing Russian roulette with a revolver that Cornell, 19, brought to the house. During the game, the gun only had empty cartridge cases, although Cornell acted as if it were loaded, a criminal complaint against him alleged.
However, when people in the house were ready to leave, Cornell loaded the gun with three live rounds. Soon after, Nelson took the gun, pointed it at Smith's head and pulled the trigger.
"I didn't know it was loaded," the complaint quoted Nelson as saying at that moment. "I didn't mean to."
Although Nelson was charged by juvenile petition with second-degree manslaughter, he pleaded guilty to first-degree manslaughter. If he doesn't abide by probation rules, he could face seven years and two months in prison.
Nelson was scheduled to have a hearing Monday to certify him to stand trial as an adult. Those proceedings were terminated by the plea.
