A Holts Summit teenager pleaded guilty to an amended charge in connection with a 2019 murder in Cole County.
During a hearing before Cole County Judge Dan Green, Grant Deppe, 17, pleaded guilty to attempted second-degree murder and tampering with physical evidence. He had been charged with one count of second-degree murder, but prosecutor's amended the charge and also dismissed a charge of armed criminal action.
For his guilty plea, Deppe was sentenced to six years in prison.
Deppe was charged in connection with the Oct. 31, 2019, shooting death of Marquise Conley, 18.
In November, Cole County prosecutors charged Devin Schrimpf, 18, with first-degree murder and armed criminal action for Conley's death. His case is scheduled to be in Cole County Judge Jon Beetem's court next week.
At the time of Schrimpf's arrest, police said another juvenile male had been taken into custody in connection with the crime. Cole County Prosecutor Locke Thompson confirmed this was Deppe, who was certified as an adult to face the charges against him.
Authorities said Deppe acted with Schrimpf to cause Conley's death, and Deppe concealed a firearm used in the crime.
Officers were called to a residence in the 1900 block of Rolling Hills Drive for a reported weapons offense, according to a Jefferson City Police Department probable cause statement. They found Conley dead in a back bedroom as a result of multiple gunshot wounds.
One witness stated Schrimpf had placed multiple calls, using Deppe's phone, to the residence prior to the shooting. Schrimpf allegedly had said he would "pull up" and "shoot" the place up.
A second witness told officers Schrimpf had gone to the Rolling Hills address during the day before the shooting and became angry when he learned another man was in the house. The witness said Schrimpf had to be forced out of the home. After leaving, he allegedly called the witness, saying he would "kill everybody over there; I'm shooting the place up."
The second witness was admitted to St. Mary's Hospital about two hours before the shooting. Hospital video reportedly showed Deppe dropping off Schrimpf at the hospital a few minutes after the shooting was reported. When asked what Schrimpf had talked about at this time, the witness stated Schrimpf had said, "It's just me and you; it's always going to be me and you."
Another witness in this case later told authorities that on the afternoon after the shooting, she assisted in hiding a 9mm rifle for Deppe in a large flower at a residence in the 1100 block of East High Street. The firearm was found, and authorities were able confirm it was the weapon used in the killing due to the 9mm shell casings found at the crime scene and latent prints found on plastic bags with the firearm ammunition that matched Deppe.
Schrimpf allegedly admitted to detectives he had made a phone call to the first witness and had visited the home earlier in the day and another man was there. Detectives reported Schrimpf "provided inconsistent information and was deceptive during the interview."