Seventeen-year-old Joseph Lee Raines and 18-year-old Brandon Carol Bouck pleaded guilty Thursday to second-degree murder. In exchange, prosecutors dropped first-degree murder charges.
Prosecutor Susan Jensen says testimony would have shown that the Granite City teens told a friend they punched and kicked Thomas Muffler last October.
Jensen says Muffler had refused to buy the teens beer. After the beating, the teens stole a 24-ounce can of beer from Muffler.
Authorities say Muffler suffered broken ribs that penetrated a lung.
A sentencing date hasn't been scheduled.
