Teen pleads guilty in 2009 killings

JOPLIN, Mo. (AP) - A western Missouri man has pleaded guilty to the stabbing deaths of two Vernon County teenagers.

Garrett Mason, Nevada, had been charged with first-degree murder for the May 2009 killings of 14-year-old Kylie Leyva and 18-year-old Anne Reed. Mason was taken into custody shortly after the stabbings at the older girl's Nevada home.

Mason pleaded guilty Monday to two counts of second-degree murder. Circuit Judge David Dally, hearing the case on a change of venue in Jasper County, sentenced the 19-year-old defendant to two life terms.

Mason could receive parole after serving 25 years.