STAFF AND WIRE REPORT
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WARSAW – Colt Lundy has entered an agreement to plead guilty to a charge of conspiracy to commit murder if other charges are waived.
The 15-year-old Cromwell boy entered the plea Wednesday in Kosciusko County Circuit Court. Lundy is accused of killing stepfather Phillip Danner April 20, and is scheduled to stand trial beginning Feb. 8, 2011, along with 12-year-old Paul Gingerich.
Judge Rex Reed set the new date for the combined trial during a separate hearing for Gingerich Thursday. The trial was first scheduled for Oct. 5.
Prosecutors had filed counts of murder and aiding and abetting murder against both boys. Kosciusko County Prosecutor R. Steven Hearn has filed an additional count of conspiracy to commit murder against Lundy.
Through defense attorney David Kolbe, Lundy agreed during the brief session Wednesday to plead guilty to the murder conspiracy charge if the other two charges against him are waived.
Lundy testified Wednesday that he and Gingerich were at a park when they came up with the plan to kill Danner and run away. The teenager said he went in the house first, then let his friend in through an open window in a bedroom where Lundy had two loaded guns waiting. The boys then went into the living room and waited for Danner.
Lundy said they both shot Danner. Authorities have said Danner was shot once in the eye, once in the wrist and twice in the chest.
Reed will decide whether to accept the plea agreement during a hearing Sept. 27. If he accepts the deal, Luncy could face 20 years to 50 years in prison and up to $10,000 in fines.
Another 12-year-old boy, Chase Williams, was sentenced in May to remain in the juvenile detention center in South Bend until age 18 for his role in the killing. He had been charged as a juvenile with assisting a criminal.
