A Jefferson City man charged in connection with the death of another Jefferson City man on Halloween 2016 pleaded guilty Monday prior to what would have been the beginning of his trial.
Terrance Wynn, 21, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder, armed criminal action and first-degree robbery in relation to the death of Terrance Davis, 29, who was killed in the early morning hours of Oct. 31, 2016, in the 700 block of Michigan Street.
Wynn had been facing a count of first-degree murder, one count of first-degree assault as well additional armed criminal action charges, but those charges were dismissed as part of an alternative plea offered by prosecutors.
Cole County Senior Judge Richard Callahan accepted the plea and ordered that a sentencing advisory report be completed by the Missouri Department of Corrections.
As part of the guilty plea, Wynn could be sentenced to life in prison or could decide to take a blind plea, leaving it up to Callahan to make the final sentencing, said Public Defender Derek Roe, Wynn's attorney.
Wynn's next court date is scheduled for December.
Terrance Davis, 29, was killed in the early morning hours of Oct. 31, 2016 in the 700 block of Michigan Street.
Davis was found lying in the street with two gunshot wounds, according to a police department probable cause statement. Multiple .45-caliber shell casings were recovered at the scene, and a .45-caliber bullet was recovered during Davis' autopsy.
Video of the crime was recovered from a business on Missouri Boulevard that has cameras pointed toward the area where the shooting occurred.
The video showed two suspects approached Davis, with the larger of the two shooting him. After shooting Davis, the suspects walked away then came back and fired another shot at Davis while he was lying on the ground.
A 911 caller who reported the incident said she heard a person say, "Why why are you doing this right now?" The caller said she then heard three or four rapid gunshots - two shots then a pause before a third shot was fired, followed by a pause and a fourth shot.
Wynn was identified in November 2016 as the person who fired shots in a separate incident in the 700 block of Monroe Street.
He was detained, and officers recovered a handgun from his waistband. The gun was cocked and loaded with a round in the chamber. A shell casing was recovered that matched the ammunition inside the gun. A records check on the weapon's serial number found it had been stolen in May 2016 in Jefferson City.
When interviewed by authorities, Wynn admitted to shooting the gun. He said he had encountered another individual, gotten into an altercation with the person, pulled the gun out and fired it.
Wynn said he had purchased the gun from an unknown individual for $200 in September 2016.
He was charged with second-degree assault, unlawful use of a weapon, armed criminal action and receiving stolen property in connection with the November 2016 shots-fired incident. Wynn pleaded guilty to these charges as well Monday.
Police said they were informed the shell casings recovered at the Michigan Street murder and Monroe Street shooting scenes appeared to have been fired from the same weapon and were made by the same manufacturer.
Wynn was located and brought in for questioning. He said he had no knowledge of Davis' murder but was present and he did not shoot Davis. He said he and another individual had planned to rob Davis, and the other individual shot him. Wynn said, after Davis was shot, he had gone through Davis' pockets and recovered a lighter. He also said that after walking away from Davis, the other individual had walked back and shot Davis again.
Authorities showed Wynn images taken from the video from the night of the murder, and eventually he admitted to shooting Davis.
When he was arrested in the murder and assault cases, Wynn was serving a five-year supervised probation sentence for a charge connected to thefts from vehicles in March 2015. He was charged with one count of receiving stolen property in that case.