Man Enters Plea In Slaying Of Michigan High School Basketball Player

MUSKEGON HEIGHTS, Mich. (AP) - A man charged in the fatal drive-by shooting of a 17-year-old high school basketball player from western Michigan has entered a plea deal.

The Muskegon Chronicle reports 22-year-old Shundarius Lawson of Muskegon pleaded no contest Tuesday to second-degree murder in the April 2014 death of Marquis Gresham. A no contest plea isn't an admission of guilt but is treated as such for sentencing.

A judge agreed to put Lawson's minimum punishment at 21 years in prison. He faces up to life behind bars when sentenced Nov. 3.

Lawson's trial had been scheduled for Tuesday, but defense lawyer Fred J. Lesica and prosecutors negotiated the plea.

Gresham, a junior at Muskegon Heights High School, was walking to a sports banquet when he was shot. Prosecutors called him an innocent bystander.

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